Cyberattack Cripples Ukraine’s Railway Ticketing System

Ukrzaliznytsia which operates as Ukraine’s national railway operator faced a cyberattack that paralyzed its ticketing operations, thus requiring passengers to obtain their tickets at stations.

The railway system suffered a website and mobile application shutdown on March 24 resulting in widespread frustration at stations throughout Ukraine as passengers faced long lines.

Ukrzaliznytsia confirmed that train schedules functioned normally despite the service disruption. “The railway continues to operate despite physical attacks on its infrastructure and cannot be stopped even by the most insidious cyberattacks,” the company declared.

The railway system faces critical concerns because of this attack because of its essential position in Ukraine.

Indeed, Ukrzaliznytsia operates as the main transportation system since the Russian invasion by moving millions of people and supporting military supply chains as well as humanitarian relief efforts. The railway functions as a vital export channel for European-bound grain shipments together with metal products, as noted by The Record.

Ukrainian security services have launched an investigation into the cyberattack but they have not revealed any information about those responsible. The company explained this incident as “systematic, complex, multi-layered” while specialists work to secure affected systems before returning them online, as reported by The Record.

The cyberattack against Ukrainian infrastructure matches previous digital assaults which experts believe came from Russian state-sponsored hackers.

Kyivstar faced a catastrophic cyberattack in 2023 that left the country without telecommunications services for an extended period, as previously reported by The Record. Hackers attacked Ukraine’s state registers during the first months of the year by compromising sensitive government databases

Ukrzaliznytsia took emergency steps to reduce the effects of this cyberattack. Military personnel could obtain tickets by going to train conductors while passengers who bought tickets online needed to print their PDF tickets or get help at the station before their train left, as reported by Bleeping Computer.