anonymous: Anonymous declares cyber war against Russia amid Ukraine war, takes down government websites – Times of India

Amid the war in Ukraine, hacker group Anonymous has declared a ‘cyber war’ against Russia. The group has announced that it is supporting Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered special military operations in Donbass region. Social media accounts claiming to represent the group announced that they had taken down dozens of Russian websites in response to the country’s military action in Ukraine. As confirmed by the Russian state-controlled international television network, RT, websites of the Russian government, the Kremlin, the Duma and the Ministry of Defence were all affected by the apparent cyberattack. A few of the attacked websites slowed down, while others were taken offline.
As per the recent Tweets from Anonymous, the Russian armed forces are preparing a large-scale bombing operation in the capital of Ukraine. The cyberattack from the hacker group came a day after a new data wiper malware was found in circulation in Ukraine.
According to researchers from cybersecurity firm ESET, a dangerous wiper malware has been found in Ukraine that can erase all the data from the system that it has infected. The thing that makes this malware so dangerous is that the data once deleted can not be recovered. The malware can even attack the system recovery tools without leaving any traces of the attack. Although the research firm was not able to identify who is responsible for the spread of malware, the suspicion goes on Russia. As per a report by Reuters, Russia has denied the allegations of any such cyberattacks.
The involvement of the Anonymous hacker group will likely help Ukraine in the cyber warfare against its rival Russia. Netizens on Twitter are also lauding these attacks by the hacker group.
What is Anonymous and why it is dangerous
Anonymous is an international group of hacktivists (activists who are hackers). The group has been involved in various major cyberattacks across the globe and it is not the first time it had made it to the headlines. Originated in 2003, the group has made it to the Time’s 100 most influential people in the world list.
The group has previously attacked government agencies of several countries including the United States, Israel, Uganda, Turkey and others. It has also targeted many major corporations including PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, and Sony. Although law enforcements across the globe have arrested several hackers over involvement in Anonymous cyberattacks, the group is still active.