Anonymous, an international hacker collective, has declared cyber-war on the Russian government after President Vladimir Putin declared a “special military operation” against Ukraine and began bombarding major cities.
Concerns that Russia may be cut off from the global internet prompted the hackers to publish their data in the hopes of exposing the censorship imposed on its citizens by the Russian government. Hacktivists want Russians to stay connected to the rest of the world and alternative media.
#Anonymous: We Are…
"For the people of Ukraine, all of our fists are in the air – Russia’s internet is under siege, hammered into submission."https://t.co/3CsUrQklSA— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) March 21, 2022
Anonymous also hacked Russian news channels Russia 24, Channel One, and Moscow 24 and broadcast footage of harrowing assault scenes on TV screens, along with the message “Ordinary Russians are against the war.”
The group has also claimed responsibility for a number of other cyber-attacks, such as the shutdown of the Kremlin’s official website, the hacking of the Ministry of Defence database, and the takedown of over 300 Russian media and banking websites.
The files were made public by a group called Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets). The group recently hacked into Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media censorship agency, and stole emails and files. The Russian agency recently threatened to block Wikipedia access due to its coverage of the Ukraine invasion. It also issued a directive for all Russian media outlets to only use state-approved information sources.
