This week, a Twitter account linked to the activist group Anonymous claimed to have hacked Russia’s central bank and planned to release 35,000 documents showing “secret agreements” over the following 48 hours.
A international hacker organisation declared a cyberwar on Russian President Vladimir Putin in a video published shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine a month ago.
“Soon, you will feel the wrath of the world’s hackers,” Anonymous declared in a video on Twitter in late February.
The organisation claims to have carried out such threats thus far. Anonymous hacker group announced earlier this week that they hacked Russian state television networks and temporarily paused broadcasting to show images of damaged Ukrainian structures.
The Russian government maintains strict control over the country’s media, and Putin just signed a bill criminalising news that contradicts the government’s official position on the Ukraine conflict.
While Western countries have stepped up sanctions against Russia in an attempt to cut Moscow off from world trade and the banking system, Anonymous has taken a different tactic.
The organisation has warned any firms that have not halted operations in Russia, tweeting, “Your time is running out.” We do not forgive. We do not forget.” Members of the organisation also promised Russian troops $52,000 in Bitcoin earlier this month if they abandoned their tanks on the battlefield.
As the situation in Ukraine continues, more war is taking place online. Squad 303 was a gang of Polish hackers that set up a website that allowed people to send text messages to random Russian phone numbers to keep them informed about the situation in Ukraine.
Therefore, the Ukrainian government is expanding its online operations to secure Ukraine’s internet infrastructure and perform counterattacks, according to Ukraine’s vice prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov.