Russian ISP SkyNet Hit by Sustained DDoS Attack Claimed by Ukrainian Hackers
Russian internet provider SkyNet is experiencing widespread service disruptions due to a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that began on October 6, with the Ukrainian hacking group BO Team claiming responsibility.
Russian internet provider SkyNet, a significant player in St. Petersburg's digital infrastructure, has been grappling with extensive service disruptions since October 6, 2026, following a persistent distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. The cyberattack has impacted a range of services for its customers, including online gaming, voice calls, and video conferencing, leading to slow connections, high latency, and intermittent service interruptions.
Customers continued to report connectivity issues as of Tuesday, according to the Russian internet outage monitoring service Detector404. These complaints encompassed fiber-optic internet outages, Wi-Fi failures, and significant increases in connection latency, indicating the ongoing severity of the attack. SkyNet has acknowledged the disruptions and stated that it is actively working to mitigate the ongoing assault, though it has not provided a timeline for the full restoration of normal operations.
The Ukrainian hacking group BO Team has claimed responsibility for the attacks, stating they initiated operations on September 14 and again on October 5. The group asserted that their actions had disabled over 15,000 network devices belonging to SkyNet. In a statement over the weekend, BO Team warned that a rapid recovery for the provider would be unlikely and further released screenshots purportedly showing access to SkyNet's internal systems, though the company has not confirmed these claims.
BO Team has framed these attacks as retaliation for Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centers, referencing Moscow's terminology of "digital detox" in relation to its own cyber actions. SkyNet, established in 2003, provides a comprehensive suite of services including residential and business internet, digital television, telephone, and data center services within St. Petersburg.
This is not the first major disruption for SkyNet this year. The company experienced a significant outage in mid-September, which was initially attributed to a technical failure. It remains uncertain whether that earlier incident was connected to BO Team's claimed September 14 attack, highlighting a potential pattern of escalating cyber activity against the provider.
BO Team, also known as Black Owl, has been active since early 2024 and has previously claimed responsibility for attacks against several other Russian telecommunications providers, including Vega-Internet, Kraft-S, SimStar, and Orion Telecom. The group's activities have drawn attention from cybersecurity researchers.
Kaspersky, a prominent cybersecurity firm, noted in a recent report that BO Team has expanded its operational scope beyond simple disruptive attacks. The group is increasingly engaging in cyber espionage and more covert intrusions, targeting a wider array of organizations. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, BO Team reportedly targeted 20 organizations, with a growing focus on sectors such as manufacturing, telecommunications, and oil and gas.
Researchers have detailed BO Team's typical modus operandi, which often involves initial access through targeted phishing emails containing malicious attachments. Once inside a network, they employ backdoors and other malware to maintain persistent access. Kaspersky characterizes BO Team as operating with a degree of independence compared to many other pro-Ukrainian hacking groups, possessing its own distinct resources and methodologies, making it a continuously evolving threat in the Russian cyber landscape.