Russian Statistics Agency Confirms Cyberattack as Hackers Claim Months Inside Its Network

Rosstat, Russia's federal statistics agency, has confirmed it was targeted in a cyberattack over the weekend. The Belarusian Cyber Partisans and the pro-Ukrainian group Silent Crow say they spent months inside the agency's network before launching a destructive operation that wiped servers and disrupted systems. Rosstat disputes the scale of the breach. It told state news agency TASS that its security systems detected suspicious activity in time for specialists to respond, and that it found no evidence protected information was leaked or databases compromised.

According to the Cyber Partisans, they first gained access about six months ago and spent four months quietly moving through the network, collecting internal documents and expanding their access. They say preparation for the destructive phase began about a month ago, ending overnight on Saturday with the destruction of physical and virtual servers and large data storage systems. Silent Crow claims access to roughly 25,000 computers and devices, and says it compromised systems that manage the network, including domain controllers and virtualization platforms. The groups also claim to have breached databases holding economic, demographic and personal information, census records and internal correspondence.

These claims are unverified, and Rosstat says it is working with cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to identify the source of the attacks. The case still shows how attackers can allegedly stay hidden for months before causing damage.