Hackers hijack Russian TV and radio stations and spread fake air warnings

For the second time in a few days, false air warnings have been broadcast in Russia. On Tuesday, several local radio and TV stations again broadcast warnings of imminent missile strikes. The population was asked to go to shelters.

A similar incident occurred last Wednesday. scattered about it Videos of the false alarms on Telegram, Twitter and other social networks. They show that a siren sound was heard on the radio, accompanied by the statement: “Warning, an air raid siren is being issued. Everyone must go to shelter immediately. Attention, attention, there is a risk of a missile strike.”

A little later, the Russian Civil Defense informed the Telegram news service: “This information is fake and does not correspond to reality.”

Photos and videos posted on social media show regional TV channels broadcasting a symbol of a man taking cover from missiles that read: “Everyone to the bomb shelter, now.”

Gazprom subsidiary hacked

The Russian authorities have confirmed the cyber-attack: “As a result of a hacker attack on the servers of radio and television stations, information about the announcement of an air-raid alert was disseminated in some regions of the country,” according to the Ministry of Civil Protection.

According to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, the affected region also included the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Gazprom Media’s private broadcasters were hit by the hack. The group operates a number of TV and radio stations in Russia. Russian state media quoted local officials as blaming Ukraine. Kiev initially did not comment on this.

Russian media repeatedly hacked

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, cyber-attacks against Russian authorities, media and other companies have been ongoing. Last week, the website and online stream of state television collapsed during the live broadcast of President Vladimir Putin’s state speech. The authorities also blamed a hacker attack for this.

Shortly after the outbreak of war, hackers managed to hijack Russian state television and take over the program for twelve minutes. The hack is captured in a short video clip, in which the normal program is interrupted by footage of bombings in Ukraine and soldiers discussing the horrors of the conflict.

In May 2022, war opponents used hacked programming information from Russian TV channels to spread anti-war messages during the National Day military parade.

In March 2022, a pro-Ukrainian hacker group hacked into Russia’s largest state media outlet and distributed nearly a million emails, providing a window into Russia’s propaganda apparatus.

a Twitter accounts of the hacker collective Anonymous last week claimed that network activists had stolen 13 million files and emails from hacked Russian servers since the start of the war.

(oli)