Dark Web Hackers Attack Russia’s Government
Infamous hacktivist group ‘Anonymous’, declares cyber war on Vladimir Putin’s government, takes down Kremlin-backed TV channel RT moments after.
Moments after Russian President, Vladimir Putin, launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, internationally infamous hacking collective ‘Anonymous’ declared “cyber war” on the dictator’s regime.
On Thursday evening, the mysterious hacking organization made headlines via their Twitter account; announcing that ‘The Anonymous collective is officially in cyber war against the Russian government,’.
Less than an hour after their announcement, they successfully shut down the website of the Kremlin-backed TV channel RT, which transmits in the UK and has been fiercely criticized for its scant coverage of Ukraine’s invasion.
When UK newspaper website, MailOnline, attempted to access the site this morning, the site was still down and simply displayed an error notice that read ‘this site cannot be reached.’
This major declaration of cyberwar heightens the possibility of subjecting Russia to systematic hacking attempts in the coming days, as ‘Anonymous’ has vowed to support Ukraine in this fight against Russia. During the battle in Kyiv and other key cities in the nation, Russia Today’s servers were taken offline.
The broadcaster has been criticized for promoting Russian propaganda so much so that the UK government has urged the media regulator to review its output. However, Anonymous has claimed credit for taking down their servers. They refused to respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
RT.com’s coverage of the invasion of Ukraine has been from a pro-Russian perspective, going as far as to set off fireworks and cheerful celebrations in the forcefully occupied territories. Following Anonymous’ declaration, The RT website has confirmed that the attack took place. They claimed it slowed some websites down, while taking many offline for indefinite periods.
Anonymous has a huge reputation backing them, with some of the most elaborate hacks being perpetrated by them since 2003. They have been responsible in targeting numerous entities and individuals alike, from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, to Islamic militants and even the Ku Klux Klan in the name of ‘hacktivism’.
