Anonymous threatens new attacks on the Kremlin and all those who, in one way or another, support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After almost fifty days of cyber warthe hacker collective seems poised for a new round of attacks on Russian institutions and those financially supporting the war effort.
Anonymous threatens the Kremlin: it’s just the beginning
Since the war began, the hacktivist collective Anonymous has declared war on the Kremlin, specifying its objectives several times. An act di cyber warfare against Vladimir Putin and who with him has wanted the invasion of Ukraine, whose tragic effects are unfortunately before the eyes of all of us. But often not Russian citizens: for this reason since the beginning of the conflict, in addition to targeting Russian state institutions and companies, Anonymous has found ways to get information to the Russians bypassing the regime’s censorship.
One way to spread the truth about the Kremlin’s intentions was to publish emails from Russian hierarchs and institutions close to Putin. On the site DDoSecretsfrom February 24, Anonymous declares to have published over 2 million Russian emails.
But warns: more information on other Russian entities will arrive in the coming days. Explaining that “this is just the beginning”.
Almost fifty days of attacks
When the February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, a period of terrible violence has begun which unfortunately does not yet see a simple resolution. But more and more war is also being fought online. Russia is well aware of this, which already months before the invasion it attacked with data wiper e ransomware Ukraine. But Ukrainian experts also fought online. As did the voluntary hacker militias of Anonymoussided against the Kremlin from the first minute.
Already on February 25 we reported about the attack on Russian Ministry of Defense, to the Russian gas giant Gazprom (at the time still sponsor of many activities in Europe). And then in a few hours the attack on the largest producer of weapons and al Belarusian railway system, Putin’s ally right away. Within a couple of days, the attack on the Ministry of Justice e of the Russian Energy and al Russian Nuclear Safety Institutewith over 300 websites blocked in a matter of hours.
With the beginning of March, Anonymous struck Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. But in the meantime, attempts to contact the Russian population were multiplying. Hacking the TV russawebcams in public offices, Russian social media Vkontakte and even writing reviews on Google Maps and Tripadvisor with information about the conflict. Anonymous seems to have even blocked (momentarily) the live broadcast of a Putin’s speech.
And then the attacks on russian censorship, publishing 800GB of data. Furthermore, the attacks on Rosneftthe oil giant, e Rosatom, that of nuclear power. Not to mention Russian civil aviation and the Orthodox Church.
Towards the end of March, it even attacked European companies, allegedly guilty of not quitting their business in Russia. We remember Nestlé (who denied having suffered the attack) but also Auchan and Leroy Merlin. And hackers have also threatened the China and its companies. Threats renewed after the terrible images of Bucha.
Anonymous’s attack on the Kremlin continues
Practically none of these attacks saw official Kremlin recognition, who pretends to have no problem with Anonymous or with the Ukrainian resistance. And verifying the information posted by hackers is often difficult.
But while it is true that some claims have occurred bogus or exaggerated, the vast majority of attacks have had independent confirmations. But they weren’t enough to convince Russia to surrender. But they made the work of the invaders in Ukraine more complicated and at least allowed to scratch it thick blanket of censorship and propaganda in Russia.
So much so that even some Russian authorities have put the hacker collective among the entities to thank for their opposition to the Ukrainian invasion. The judgment on Anonymous remains complicated: the group’s illegal activities are dangerous in many contexts. But many online users are showing their support for activists. That could soon lead to term new hits: we will keep you informed.