Ukrainian hacktivist groups, KibOrg and NLB, have claimed responsibility for hacking into Alfa-Bank, Russia’s largest private bank, and allegedly procured over 30 million customer records. Their claim was bolstered when an anonymous Ukrainian intelligence official confirmed that Ukraine’s counterintelligence agency, the SBU, assisted the hacktivists. The breach is one of many cyber efforts Ukraine has undertaken in its resistance against Russia’s invasion, with Alfa-Bank previously being sanctioned by the U.S. government. The data acquired is expected to be shared with investigative journalists, while the bank has yet to publicly acknowledge the hack.
Key Points:
- Two Ukrainian hacktivist groups, KibOrg and NLB, claimed to have breached Russia’s Alfa-Bank, releasing screenshots of the bank’s internal database as proof.
- An anonymous Ukrainian intelligence official validated their claim, revealing that Ukraine’s top counterintelligence agency, the SBU, supported the hack.
- Alfa-Bank, which caters to Russia’s elite, faced U.S. sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
- Hacktivism and volunteer cyber operations have been pivotal for Ukraine in resisting Russia’s invasion.
- Beyond the Alfa-Bank incident, Ukrainian hacktivists have achieved multiple successes, including infiltrating servers of a major ransomware gang linked to Russia.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/25/1208352887/ukraine-russia-bank-hack
