SecurityNot yet confirmed elsewhere1 publisher2 min readPublished
SkyNet users in St. Petersburg still report outages days into an attack BO Team claimed
SkyNet, a St. Petersburg internet provider, has been under a DDoS attack since October 6, the company said. Ukrainian group BO Team claims it also disabled more than 15,000 devices. SkyNet has not confirmed that.
The Watch · Security desk
Three key figures. BO Team says it disabled more than 15,000 network devices. BO Team has claimed at least five Russian telecom providers: four named providers plus SkyNet. Kaspersky says BO Team targeted 20 organizations in the first quarter of 2026.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Network devices BO Team says it disabled, more than | 15,000 devices | 14 | |
| Russian telecom providers BO Team claimed, at least | 5 providers | Four named providers plus SkyNet | 12 |
| Organizations BO Team targeted, per Kaspersky | 20 organizations | First quarter of 2026 | 8 |
What happened
- SkyNet said the attack is hitting online gaming, voice calls and video conferencing, with slow connections and high latency.
- Detector404, a Russian outage monitor, logged customer complaints on Tuesday about fiber-optic outages, Wi-Fi failures and high latency.
- The group also published screenshots that purportedly show access to SkyNet's internal systems.
Why it matters
- exposure Residential, business, television, telephone and data center customers all buy from one provider under attack, and the company has named only gaming, voice and video as affected so far.
- constraint SkyNet called its September outage a technical failure, so outsiders cannot tell fault from attack without the company or the group saying which.
- precedent BO Team has now claimed at least five Russian telecom providers, so the next unexplained outage at one of them will raise the same fault-or-attack question.
SkyNet has confirmed one thing: a DDoS attack on its network since October 6 [1]. It did not say when normal operations would resume [3]. Everything beyond that comes from BO Team, which said in a statement over the weekend: "A quick recovery will not be possible." [15]
The gap between those two accounts decides how long this runs. We'd expect a DDoS alone to ease once the traffic is filtered or the attacker stops, and disabled devices to stay down until someone repairs them. So BO Team's recovery forecast holds only if its claim of more than 15,000 disabled devices holds [14]. SkyNet has not confirmed that claim, or the unauthorized access the group's screenshots purport to show [17]. The Tuesday complaints logged by Detector404 fit either account [4].
The dates do not line up cleanly. BO Team dates its attacks on SkyNet to September 14 and October 5 [13], and SkyNet's DDoS began a day after the second [11]. According to The Record, it is unclear whether the mid-September outage, which SkyNet put down to a technical failure, was connected to the September 14 claim [19].
The group has a record. Kaspersky reports that BO Team has moved beyond disruptive attacks into cyber espionage and more covert intrusions, and that it targeted 20 organizations in the first quarter of 2026 [8]. Researchers said the group typically gets in through targeted phishing emails with malicious attachments, then uses backdoors and other malware to stay inside [9]. Nothing in the reporting ties that method to SkyNet.
Kaspersky describes BO Team as operating more independently than many other pro-Ukrainian groups [10]. The group has also worked with Ukrainian military intelligence on operations against a drone supplier, a federal digital signature authority and a scientific research center [7]. It describes the SkyNet operation as retaliation for Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centers [5].
What to watch
- Whether SkyNet gives a restoration date or confirms or denies the 15,000-device and internal-access claims.
- Whether SkyNet says if its mid-September outage was the September 14 attack BO Team claimed.
- Whether BO Team claims another Russian telecom provider after SkyNet.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives70
- Confidence50
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
SkyNet said in a statement on Friday that its network had been disrupted by a distributed denial-of-service attack since October 6.
- [2]
The attack affected services including online gaming, voice calls and video conferencing, and customers could experience slow connections, high latency and interruptions to audio and video services.
- [4]
SkyNet customers were still reporting connectivity problems on Tuesday, according to Russian outage monitoring service Detector404, with complaints including fiber-optic internet outages, Wi-Fi connectivity failures and high connection latency.
- [5]
BO Team described the operation as retaliation for Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centers, referring to Moscow's use of the term "digital detox".
- [6]
BO Team, also known as Black Owl, emerged in early 2024 and has claimed attacks on Russian telecommunications providers including Vega-Internet, Kraft-S, SimStar and Orion Telecom.
- [7]
BO Team has previously collaborated with Ukrainian military intelligence on operations targeting Russian organizations, including a drone supplier, a federal digital signature authority and a scientific research center.
- [8]
Kaspersky said BO Team had expanded beyond disruptive attacks to include cyber espionage and more covert intrusions, and targeted 20 organizations in the first quarter of 2026, increasingly focusing on manufacturing, telecommunications and oil and gas companies.
- [9]
Researchers said BO Team typically gained initial access through targeted phishing emails carrying malicious attachments and used backdoors and other malware to maintain access to compromised networks.
- [10]
Kaspersky described BO Team as operating more independently than many other pro-Ukrainian hacking groups, with its own resources and methods.
- [11]
SkyNet's DDoS began one day after BO Team's claimed October 5 attack.
- [12]
BO Team has claimed at least five Russian telecom providers: the four named in the source plus SkyNet.
- [13]
BO Team claimed responsibility for attacks on SkyNet's infrastructure on September 14 and October 5.
ReportedContestedSource: BO Team claim, reported by The Record2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [14]
BO Team said it had disabled more than 15,000 network devices.
ReportedContestedSource: BO Team claim, reported by The Record2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [15]
BO Team said in a statement over the weekend: "A quick recovery will not be possible."
ReportedContestedSource: BO Team statement, reported by The Record2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [16]
The group published screenshots purportedly showing access to SkyNet's internal systems.
ReportedContestedSource: BO Team, reported by The Record2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [17]
SkyNet has not confirmed the hackers' claims about disabled equipment or unauthorized access to its systems.
- [18]
SkyNet, which has operated since 2003, provides residential and business internet access, digital television, telephone services and data center services in St. Petersburg.
- [19]
SkyNet had a major outage in mid-September that it attributed to a technical failure, with some customers reporting problems for several days; it remains unclear whether that incident was connected to BO Team's claimed September 14 attack.
Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- therecord.mediaRussian internet provider SkyNet reports outages after cyberattack claimed by Ukrainian hackers
1 article · October 13, 2026
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