Since declaring “cyber war” on President Vladimir Putin in revenge for the invasion of Ukraine, the hacktivist group Anonymous has been attacking Russia with cyber attacks. Several members of the group spoke to the BBC about their motivations, methods and intentions.
An Anonymous cyberattack on Russian television networks stands out among all the cyberattacks carried out since the Ukraine crisis began.
The hack was documented in a short video clip showing regular programming interrupted by images of bombs exploding in Ukraine and troops discussing the difficulties of the fight.
On February 26, the video went viral after being posted by anonymous social media accounts with millions of followers. “ONLY ON: #Anonymous has hacked #Russian state TV stations to reveal the truth about what is happening in #Ukraine,”
The action has all the makings of an Anonymous hack: it’s theatrical, effective, and easy to distribute online. It was also difficult to verify, like many of the group’s previous cyberattacks.
However, one of the smaller groups of anonymous hackers claimed responsibility, claiming to have taken over TV services for 12 minutes.
The original person who shared the video was also able to confirm that it was genuine. Eliza is American, but her father is Russian, and when her TV shows were interrupted, he contacted her. “When it happened, my father contacted me and said, ‘Oh my God, they’re telling the truth!’ So I asked him to videotape it and then I uploaded the video to YouTube. She claims that one of her friends was also a witness to the incident.
The Russian firm that controls the compromised services, Rostelecom, has not yet responded to requests for comment.
The hackers rationalized their actions by claiming that civilians were being massacred in Ukraine. “If nothing is done to restore peace in Ukraine,” they said, “we will increase our attacks on the Kremlin.”
Although Anonymous claims to have taken down Russian websites and stolen government data, Lisa Forte, a partner at cybersecurity firm Red Goat, says most of these attacks have been “pretty rudimentary” so far.
DDoS attacks, in which a server is inundated by a flood of requests, have been the most common method used by hackers, he added. These are simple to carry out and only take websites offline for a short period of time.
“However, the TV stunt is really imaginative and I guess quite difficult to pull off,” he commented.
Who is anonymous?
- The hacktivist organization originally appeared on the 4chan website in 2003.
- “We are legion” is the slogan of the group, which has no leadership.
- Anyone can pretend to be a member of the group and hack for any reason they want, however they usually target organizations suspected of abusing their authority.
- A Guy Fawkes mask is his emblem, made popular by Alan Moore’s graphic novel V for Vendetta, in which an anarchist rebel overthrows a corrupt fascist government.
- The group has several social media profiles, with 15.5 million followers on Twitter alone.
Russian websites have also been vandalized by anonymous hackers. According to Forte, this involves acquiring control of a website in order to alter the material presented.
So far, the attacks have created inconvenience and embarrassment, but since the invasion, cyber experts have become increasingly concerned about the rise of hacktivism.
They worry that a hacker could inadvertently disable a hospital’s computer network or disrupt key communication lines.
Emily Taylor of the Cyber Policy Journal adds: “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“These attacks represent a threat. They could lead to an escalation, or someone could inadvertently damage a vital aspect of civilian life.”
This is the most active Anonymous in years. Until Russia attacked his nation, Roman, a Ukrainian IT businessman who leads a hacking gang known as Stand for Ukraine, had no ties to the organization.
However, he informed me that when he and his colleagues momentarily attacked the website of the official Russian news agency Tass with an anti-Putin banner, they added an Anonymous emblem.
Roman coordinates the creation of his team’s websites, Android apps, and Telegram bots to aid the Ukrainian military effort and hack Russian targets from his residence in kyiv.
“I am ready to go find a weapon for Ukraine, but my talents are more suited to the computer at the moment. So, with my two laptops in hand, I’m coordinating this IT resistance from the comfort of my own home.”
He claims that his gang shut down a Russian regional train ticket service for several hours, although the BBC has been unable to confirm this.
“These things are illegal and wrong until there is a threat to you or your family member,” he justifies his activities.
Another hacker organization that has joined forces with Anonymous is Squad 303, named after a renowned Polish WWII fighter squadron.
“We constantly collaborate with Anonymous, and now I consider myself a member of the Anonymous movement,” says one of the members, who calls himself a World War II pilot, Jan Zumbach.
He didn’t want his photo taken, but a Ukrainian member of his squad shared a photo of himself wearing a helmet and mask. “During the day, I’m on the barricade with a gun, and at night, I’m hacking with the Squad/Anonymous,” he said.
Squad 303 has created a website that allows members of the public to send text messages to random Russian phone numbers informing them of the events of the war. More than 20 million SMS and WhatsApp messages are said to have been sent through its platform.
This, according to two Anonymous organizations I spoke to, is the most important thing the collective has done for Ukraine so far.
Asked how he justified the Squad’s criminal activities, Jan Zumbach said that they did not take or reveal any private information and were simply seeking to communicate with the Russians in order to win the information war.
However, he said that they were preparing a more significant attack in the coming days.
Attacks against Ukraine are also being carried out by self-defense groups in Russia, but on a smaller scale.
Since January, Ukraine has been the target of three large waves of coordinated DDoS attacks, as well as three more catastrophic “wiper” attacks that wiped data from a limited number of Ukrainian computer systems.
Ukraine claims to be in the midst of its first ‘hybrid war’.
Vigilante Russian hackers have joined the attack on Ukraine.
Cyberattacks on Ukrainian websites are becoming more frequent.
Following an alleged rape, an altered video of President Zelensky appeared on the website of the Ukraine 24 television channel on Wednesday.
However, in today’s world, it is difficult to determine who is behind any cyber attack.
“A longtime Anonymous hacker, Anon2World believes that the Achilles heel of Anonymous is that anyone can claim to be Anonymous, including state entities working against what we are fighting for.”
“With our current popularity, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that there will be apparent government ramifications. We are used to confusion, especially online, so adding it is not a problem.”
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Categories: Technology
Source: vtt.edu.vn