How hackers are trying to weaken Putin: Report 20Mar 2022

March 20, 2022

How hackers are trying to weaken Putin

Anonymous hacktivists have been carrying out joint cyber-attacks in Russia since Ukraine declared a “cyber war” against President Vladimir Putin in retaliation for the attack. Several people working under its banner have spoken to the BBC about their motives, strategies and plans.

Among the many cyber-attacks since the Ukraine conflict began is an anonymous hack on the Russian TV network.

The hack was captured on a short video clip that disrupted normal programming by talking about the horrors of the bombings and troop clashes in Ukraine.

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The video began airing on February 26, and anonymous social media accounts were shared with millions of followers. “Just in: #Russia’s state TV channels have been hacked by #Anonymous to broadcast the truth about what is happening in #Ukraine.

The stunt has all the features of an anonymous hack – dramatic, effective and easy to share online. Like other cyber-attacks in the group, it was extremely difficult to verify.

But a small group of anonymous hackers said they were responsible, and that they had been occupying TV services for 12 minutes.

The first person to post the video was also able to verify that it was true. Eliza lives in the United States but her father is Russian and calls her when her TV show is interrupted. “When this happened my father called me and said, ‘Oh my God, they are showing the truth!’ So I brought her in to record it and I posted the clip online. She said a friend of hers saw it happen. ”

Rostelecom, the Russian company that operates hacked services, did not respond to a request for comment.

The hackers justified their actions by saying that innocent Ukrainians were being massacred. “If nothing is done to restore peace in Ukraine, we will intensify the attack on the Kremlin,” they added.

Anonymous said it had also removed Russian websites and stolen government data, but Lisa Fort, a partner in the cyber-security firm Red Goat, said most of the attacks were “pretty basic” so far.

Hackers are mostly using DDoS attacks, where a server is overwhelmed by a flood of requests, he said. These are relatively easy to perform and only temporarily take websites offline

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“But the TV hack is incredibly creative,” he said, “and I think it’s pretty hard to stop.”

Anonymous hackers have also distorted Russian websites. Fort says it gains control of a website to change the content displayed.

So far, the attacks have been disruptive and embarrassing, but cyber-experts have been increasingly concerned about the explosion of hacktivism since the attacks.

They are concerned that a hacker could accidentally break into a hospital computer network or disrupt important communication links.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Emily Taylor from Cyber Policy Journal.

“These attacks carry risks. [These] could lead to an increase, or someone could accidentally cause real damage to a significant part of civilian life.”

Anonymously this has not been active for several years. Roman, a Ukrainian technology entrepreneur who leads a group of hackers called the Stand for Ukraine, had no ties to the organization until Russia invaded his country.

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But he told me that when he and his party briefly distorted the website of the Russian state news agency Tass with anti-Putin posters, they included an anonymous logo.

Roman works from his sixth-floor apartment in Kiev, coordinating his team by building websites, Android apps and telegram bots to help Ukraine’s war effort and hack Russian targets.

Who are the anonymous?

The Hacktivist joint first appeared on the website 4chan in 2003
The party has no leadership, its tagline is “We are the army”.
Anyone can claim to be part of the group and hack for any reason, but they usually attack the organization accused of abuse of power.
Their symbol is a Guy Fox mask, made famous by Alan Moore’s graphic novel V for Vendetta where an anarchist revolutionary overthrows a corrupt fascist government.
The group has multiple social media accounts, with 15.5 million followers on its Twitter page alone.

“I’m ready to go to Ukraine and get a rifle, but at the moment my skills are better used in computers. So I’m here at home with my two laptops, coordinating this IT resistance.”

He says his group took the Russian regional train ticket service offline for a few hours, although the BBC could not verify it.

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He defended his actions, saying: “These things are illegal and wrong unless they are a threat to you or your relatives.”

Another group that has merged with Anonymous is a Polish hacking team called Squad 303, named after a famous Polish fighter squadron of World War II.

“We’ve always worked together with Anonymous and I now consider myself a member of the Anonymous movement,” said one of the group, which uses the name of WW2 pilot John Zumbach as its moniker.

He did not want to be named but sent a photo of himself to another member of his team, a Ukrainian, wearing a helmet and a mask. He described his situation as “hacking with barricades with rifles during the day and with squads / strangers at night”.

Squad 303 has created a website that allows members of the public to send text messages to random Russian phone numbers, telling the truth about their war. They are also 20 million