According to Anonymous, three Russian-state TV channels, Russia 24, Moscow 24, and Channel One and two Netflix-like Russian streaming services, Ivi and Wink, were targeted in the attack.
The popular hacking collective Anonymous claims to have hacked streaming services and several state TV channels in Russia to air footage of the war in Ukraine. The latest cyber attack came just a week after the group interrupted transmissions of several State TV channels in Russia to play the Ukrainian national anthem.
Three Russia State TV Channels Hacked
On the evening of March 6th, 2022, Anonymous took to Twitter to post footage of the alleged hacking of Russian state TV. According to Anonymous, three Russian-state TV channels, Russia 24, Moscow 24, and Channel One and two Netflix-like Russian streaming services, Ivi and Wink, were targeted in the cyberattack. The footage was posted with the following caption:
The hacking collective #Anonymous today hacked into the Russian streaming services Wink and Ivi (like Netflix) and live TV channels Russia 24, Channel One, Moscow 24 to broadcast war footage from #Ukraine #OpRussia..
The clip posted by Anonymous shows the skyline of a war-torn town in Ukraine, and then the footage shifts focus to a man recording footage of an unexploded Russian missile. The screen then displays an anti-war message from the group claiming that the Russian public resents this war.
“Ordinary Russians are against the war”, the message read. Anonymous posted another tweet claiming that they have hacked all Russian state TV channels with more images of onscreen messages from the gang. “All Russian-state TV channels have been hacked.”
The sole objective of this hack, according to Anonymous, was to show the realities of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Anonymous Declared Cyberwar on Russia
Hackread earlier reported that Anonymous publicly threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia invaded Ukraine in a supposed peacekeeping mission. On February 27th, 2022, the group posted a video message warning Putin of grave consequences and an upcoming cyberwar if his forces do not evacuate Ukraine.
Later, the websites of the Russian government, the Russian defense ministry, and Russian firms like Gazprom were targeted and defaced. Shortly after, a cyberattack was launched against an EV charging station in Moscow, interrupting services at the facility.
The station’s screens displayed anti-Putin and anti-government messages and support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Furthermore, on March 4th, 2022, Anonymous carried out another cyber attack and defaced the official website of the Russian Space Research Institute.
The hacktivist group also tweeted download links claiming claims it contained data stolen from the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
