Hacked Russian TV channels broadcast Ukrainian war documentaries
22 August 2024 15:29
Hackers attacked nine Russian television channels. Russians saw documentaries about the war in Ukraine on their screens. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine unofficially claimed the attack.
War recordings were shown to viewers of nine TV stations. External materials transmitted as a result of the hacking attack appeared three times during prime time.
These were seen by viewers of Pervouralsk TV, Eurasia 360, and Eurasia Pierwyj Kanal, among others. Most of the attacked broadcasters belong to the media holding of oligarch Andrei Komarov.
Cyberattack on Russian TV stations. Not the first time Ukraine strikes in digital space
A source in Ukrainian military intelligence communicated information about this action to the Unian agency. The informant also reported that by the morning of 22nd August, only a few channels partially resumed operation, including Eurasia 360 and TV-3, while others were down for several more hours.
Television Pervouralsk apologised to viewers in a statement posted on the social networking site VKontakte. It was reported that the attackers gained access to the live broadcast and launched unauthorised video materials contrary to the TV channel's policy.
It is another element of cyber warfare waged by both sides of the conflict since it began in February 2022. In early July, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (HUR) claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on nearly 100 Russian websites supporting Kremlin activities and several Russian banks and financial institutions. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Monobank was the victim of a two-day DDoS attack at the beginning of this week.
In June 2022, Ukrainian hackers "hijacked" the morning news edition of Kommersant FM, the radio division of the newspaper "Kommersant". Listeners suddenly heard the Ukrainian song "Tam na łące czerwona kalina".
Alexei Vorobyov, the station's editor-in-chief, confirmed the attack on its servers. In May, three radio stations in St. Petersburg also played Ukrainian and anti-war songs for over two hours.
In July 2023, one of the Russian radio stations broadcast a false announcement about President Vladimir Putin's signing of a decree to end the "special military operation" in Ukraine. Of course, it quickly became clear that the information had nothing to do with reality.
In March 2023, Russian viewers saw warnings on their TV screens about a missile attack. The false messages urged people to go to shelters and take potassium iodide pills.
