Three years of reporting, funded by our readers — become a member now and help us prepare for 2025.
Goal: 1,000 new members for our birthday. Gift a membership to your friend and help us prepare for what 2025 might bring.
Become a member Gift membership
Skip to content
Edit post

Massive cyberattack targets Ukrainian online bank

by Abbey Fenbert January 22, 2024 3:06 AM 1 min read
Oleh Horokhovskyi, CEO of mobile-only banking service Monobank, at the company's office in Kyiv on July 4, 2023. (Pete Kiehart/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Hackers targeted Monobank, Ukraine's largest mobile-only bank, with waves of denial of service (DDoS) attacks on Jan. 21, the company's co-founder and CEO Oleh Horokhovskyi reported.  

DDoS attacks direct excessive amounts of traffic at a website in order to overload its servers, often causing disruptions to service.

Horokhovskyi said Monobank was targeted with 580 million service requests in one attack.

"I think today Monobank is one of the most attacked IT targets in the country," he said.

Horokhovskyi had also reported a DDoS attack of 50 million service requests the previous day, Jan. 20.

While Horokhovskyi said the situation was under control and Monobank was "still standing," he said that another wave of attacks began as he was writing his announcement.

Horokhovskyi did not say who he thought was behind the attacks, though previous threats have been linked to Russian hackers.

Monobank was hacked on Dec. 12, the same day that a massive cyberattack targeted Ukrainian phone operator Kyivstar. The Russian hacker group Solntsepek claimed credit for the attacks against Kyivstar.

Russia has launched thousands of cyberattacks against Ukrainian organizations since the start of its full-scale invasion.

Talking business in Ukraine: Conversation with Monobank, country’s largest online bank
Put active community organization and rapid digitalization together and you get the story of contemporary Ukrainian society. You also get Monobank— Ukraine’s hugely popular mobile-only bank that has facilitated nearly $1 billion in donations to fund the war effort since the start of Russia’s full-s…
Three years of reporting, funded by our readers.
Millions read the Kyiv Independent, but only one in 10,000 readers makes a financial contribution. Thanks to our community we've been able to keep our reporting free and accessible to everyone. For our third birthday, we're looking for 1,000 new members to help fund our mission and to help us prepare for what 2025 might bring.
Three years. Millions of readers. All thanks to 12,000 supporters.
It’s thanks to readers like you that we can celebrate another birthday this November. We’re looking for another 1,000 members to help fund our mission, keep our journalism accessible for all, and prepare for whatever 2025 might bring. Consider gifting a membership today or help us spread the word.
Help us get 1,000 new members!
Become a member Gift membership
visa masterCard americanExpress

News Feed

3:44 PM

Russian ICBM strike would be 'clear escalation,' EU says.

"While we're assessing the full facts, it's obvious that such (an) attack would mark yet another clear escalation from the side of (Russian President Vladimir Putin," EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano said, according to AFP.
1:40 PM

Merkel describes Trump as 'fascinated by Putin' in her memoir.

"(Donald Trump) saw everything from the point of view of a property developer, which is what he was before he came into politics. Every plot of land could only be sold once, and if he didn't get it, someone else would," Angela Merkel says in her memoir.
11:54 PM

Biden seeks to cancel over $4.5 billion of Ukraine's debt.

"We have taken the step that was outlined in the law to cancel those loans, provide that economic assistance to Ukraine, and now Congress is welcome to take it up if they wish," U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Nov. 20.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.