{
  "id": 17613926,
  "title": "Russia’s Statistics Agency Hit by Cyberattack as Hackers Claim Massive Data Theft",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/01/russias-statistics-agency-hit-by-cyberattack-as-hackers-claim-massive",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-01T14:06:17.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Moscow Times",
    "slug": "the-moscow-times",
    "url": "https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/11/01/russias-statistics-agency-hit-by-cyberattack-as-hackers-claim-massive-data-theft-a94146"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On November 1, Russia's state statistics agency Rosstat announced that its websites had been targeted by a coordinated cyberattack. Hackers subsequently claimed to have stolen 23 terabytes of data, which purportedly included information on Russian casualties in the war with Ukraine. Messages from the Belarusian group Cyber Partisans and the Silent Crow hacking group were displayed on the agency's main website and regional portals. Both groups, designated as extremist and banned in Russia, posted messages such as \"No one will escape accountability.\"\n\nThe attacks, which took place between October 29 and November 1, were meticulously planned and targeted multiple areas simultaneously. They involved specialists with diverse expertise operating from various locations. However, Rosstat categorically denied any leaks of databases or legally protected information, stating that its monitoring systems had detected suspicious activity in time for staff to respond swiftly. The agency's primary website remained inaccessible at the time of reporting.\n\nThe hackers asserted that the stolen files encompassed data on Russian wartime losses, demographic and economic statistics, and documents marked \"for official use only.\" However, these claims could not be independently verified. Rosstat's methodology includes a category for deaths resulting from military operations, although the agency suspended the publication of annual cause-of-death statistics in 2024. Other data crucial to assessing the war's impact have also ceased to be publicly accessible.\n\nThe same hacking groups previously claimed responsibility for a July 2025 attack on Aeroflot's IT systems, resulting in widespread disruption. Russian prosecutors verified the cyberattack and initiated a criminal investigation into unauthorized access to computer systems. In January 2025, Silent Crow alleged the theft of a database containing 2 billion records on property owners from the state real estate registry Rosreestr. Rosstat denied the leak, yet journalists were able to corroborate some of the information published by the hackers.",
  "summary": "Hackers claimed to have stolen 23 terabytes of data, including information on Russian losses in the war in Ukraine.",
  "key_points": [
    "Russia's Rosstat agency faces cyberattack on November 1",
    "Hackers claim to have stolen 23 terabytes of data",
    "Belarusian group Cyber Partisans and Silent Crow involved"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}