Hackers cause billions of rubles in damage to Aeroflot after IT failure

 Russian national carrier Aeroflot may face losses running into billions of rubles after a major IT infrastructure failure, likely caused by a cyberattack, aviation industry sources said.

On July 28 alone, the airline canceled at least 54 round-trip flights from Sheremetyevo Airport, resulting in losses of no less than 250 million rubles, industry estimates suggest. Total damages, including restoration costs and a drop in ticket sales for upcoming dates, could amount to several billion rubles.

IT experts say the complete destruction of thousands of physical and virtual servers is unlikely, but recovery could take days or even months. Aeroflot is expected to hire a specialized cybersecurity firm to handle the aftermath and conduct an investigation.

Seven more round-trip flights for July 29 — including routes to Ufa, Almaty, Yerevan, and Minsk — were also canceled. Aeroflot has not disclosed the reasons but urged passengers to check flight status through official channels.

Russian media reported that Aeroflot’s CEO had not changed his password since 2022, and that the company still operated legacy systems such as Windows XP and Server 2003.