The hacker group (or hacktivist group) known as ‘Anonymous’ just put Russia on notice and reports of the country’s government sites and State TV stations being hacked have already started rolling in. The “YourAnonNews” Twitter account, which boasts 6.5 million followers, made the declaration on Thursday, saying that the hacking group is “currently involved in operations against the Russian Federation”, the group announced on their Twitter account:
“We want the Russian people to understand that we know it’s hard for them to speak out against their dictator for fear of reprisals,” the decentralized hacking collective said.
“We, as a collective want only peace in the world. We want a future for all of humanity. So, while people around the globe smash your internet providers to bits, understand that it’s entirely directed at the actions of the Russian government and Putin.”
“Put yourselves in the shoes of the Ukrainians being bombed right now. Together we can change the world, we can stand up against anything. It is time for the Russian people to stand together and say “NO” to Vladimir Putin’s war. We are Anonymous. We are Legion Expect us.”
#Anonymous is currently involved in operations against the Russian Federation. Our operations are targeting the Russian government. There is an inevitability that the private sector will most likely be affected too. While this account cannot claim to speak for the whole (con)
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) February 24, 2022
Homeland Security Today reported that a message released by Anonymous Liberland and the Pwn-Bär Hack Team announced the start of #OpCyberBullyPutin “to show you how prepared for cyberwar Russia and CIS countries really are.”
“Our Russian APT friends seem kinda out of shape, don’t they? Defacements? DDoS attacks? What year is this? 2012?” The group said it hacked Belarusian defense manufacturer Tetraedr and obtained more than 200 gigabytes of emails, and subsequently leaked the data.
Hackers have been generally using #OpRussia or #OpKremlin hashtags to announce actions against Russian sites, similar to the #OpISIS campaign that targeted the terror group’s wave of online propaganda and the #OpKKK campaign that targets white supremacists.
Hackers identifying with the Anonymous collective announced the launch of #OpRussia Thursday (Eastern time), saying that their cyber operations briefly took down some websites associated with the Russian government. An Anonymous account on Twitter claimed that the group took down “the website of the #Russian propaganda station RT News | rt.com | in response to Kremlin’s brutal invasion of #Ukraine.” The site was back up later.
“In 2022 modern technologies are one of the best response to tanks, rockets and missiles,” he tweeted. “I’ve addressed to the biggest tech giants to support the sanctions for Russian Federation. We asked them to help us stop this outrageous aggression on our people!”
In 2022 modern technologies are one of the best response to tanks, rockets and missiles. I’ve addressed to the biggest tech giants to support the sanctions for Russian Federation. We asked them to help us stop this outrageous aggression on our people!
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022
Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov announced Saturday a Telegram channel for the IT Army of Ukraine: “We are creating an IT army. We need digital talents. All operational tasks will be given here: t.me/itarmyofurraine. There will be tasks for everyone. We continue to fight on the cyber front.”