“Infotel” is one of the recommended providers providing services to access the Automatic Electronic Interaction System (ACEV) between the Main Directorate of the Central Bank of Russia and credit institutions. It is also reported on the company’s website that it offers services for connecting to the automated system “Transport gateway of the Bank of Russia” (TSH CBR) for exchange of payments and financial messages with customers of the Bank of Russia.

A message has already been published on the Infotel website confirming the authenticity of the attack:

We inform you that some of the network equipment has been damaged as a result of a major hacker attack on Infotel JSC’s network. Restoration work is currently ongoing. Deadlines for the completion of the works will be notified separately,
– said in the statement.

In response, the hackers wrote in their Telegram channels that the company’s infrastructure was destroyed after the attack: “They’ve acidified hell, their soil is concrete. All their infrastructure has been destroyed, nothing alive is left there. Now let them try to restore everything – there are as many chances for an easy life as Rashka has. More to come.”.

Cyber.Anarchy.Squad also alleges that the company stole information about its customers and provided a separate file and screenshot from a compromised mailbox to support its claims. According to the data, Infotel works with approximately 400 customers, of which a quarter are banks. Credit institutions and car dealerships are listed among others.

The attack began on June 8, according to the Internet Outage Detection and Analysis (IODA) service. It interrupted the communication operator’s work for about 32 hours.