Thursday 23 February 2023
français >
Russian Radio Stations Hacked with Fake Missile Alerts.
Several radio stations in Russia were reportedly hacked to send fake missile alerts across the country, the government has claimed.
According to local media, a female voice rendered the fake alerts from several radio stations, including Yumor FM, Relax FM, Comedy Radio, Humor FM, and Avatoradio. The false warning announced an air raid and requested the listeners to seek shelter quickly.
Millions of Russian citizens in over a dozen cities were baffled to hear unusual radio alerts, sirens, and text messages this Wednesday morning. These warnings were about missile strikes and air raids on Russia.
However, the Russian government’s Ministry of Emergency Situations later announced that these were fake warnings and blamed hackers for airing false alerts on commercial radio stations.
“Attention, an air raid warning is being announced. Go to the shelter immediately. Attention, Attention, the threat of a missile strike.”
These bogus warnings were broadcast in ten cities, including Kazan, Tyumen, Pyatigorsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Magnitogorsk, Novouralsk, Ufa, and Stary Oskol. Loud sirens followed these warnings, and civilians were urged to seek out air raid shelters. Some people recorded these false warnings on camera.
Locals in the cities where the warnings were broadcast, such as the Kurgan and Belgorod regions, promptly informed citizens that these were false warnings. The ministry noted that the warnings were caused by an attack on a satellite operator’s infrastructure.
Moreover, government officials stated that an unauthorized “tie-in is going in the air,” clarifying that the alarm signals were fake. Authorities claim that the perpetrators could be linked to the Kyiv regime.
A tweet shared by Anonymous with Hackread.com claims that it was the Anonymous hacktivist collective behind the hacking spree.
JUST IN: The Anonymous collective (RoughSec & Team OneFist) disrupted radio broadcasts in several #Russian cities with the sound of air raid sirens and a warning of imminent missile strikes. #OpRussia #Anonymous #SlavaUkraïni
— Anonymous TV 🇺🇦 (@YourAnonTV) February 23, 2023
Earlier, a Denial of Service attack (DDoS attack) disrupted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s address to the nation on state media sites. Ukrainian hackers claimed responsibility for the attack.
It is worth noting that most stations airing these alerts are owned by Russia’s leading media company, Gazprom-Media. Furthermore, the alerts were aired just two days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
— by Deeba Ahmed - hackread.com
