Hackers choose a side in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine
Some of these groups are threatening, others are just supporting. Also, many of them have open support from the countries in which they work, while others are independent. What they have in common is that they can do great harm.
Anonymous is probably the most well-known hacker and activist group, and they have announced on social media that they are “in an official cyber war against the Russian authorities.” They announced on Twitter that their target is the Russian television RT, and they downed the site of the information network several times.
The Anonymous collective is officially in cyber war against the Russian government. #Anonymous #Ukraine
– Anonymous (@YourAnonOne) February 24, 2022
On the other hand, the ransomware group Conti has provided support to Russia. In a statement, the group said it did not join any government and condemned the war, but would respond to Western aggression on Russia’s infrastructure. The Conti Group is one of the most active in the field of ransomware and is responsible for numerous attacks on companies operating industrial control systems.
The Minsk-based UNC1151 group is on Russia’s side in the conflict. The group is believed to be funded by Belarus and has already attempted to hack into the emails of Ukrainian troops.
Russian hackers called Sandworm are allegedly sponsored by the state and are affiliated with Russia. The same is true of the Red Bands, who on February 22 announced that they had hacked the cameras of Ukrainian police and threatened stronger ransomware attacks if Ukraine did not do what Russia wanted.
We’ve hijacked the @UkrainePolice Dashcams and have been watching them. If Ukraine does not do what #Russia wants we will escalate our attacks against Ukraine to involve panic scares. We will also consider distributing #ransomeware in #UkraineRussiaCrisis #RussiaUcraina #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/zEgtZxzDqP
– TheRedBanditsRU (@RedBanditsRU) February 22, 2022
On Russia’s side is the lesser-known ransomware group Cumming Project, which has announced assistance to the Russian government in the event of a cyber attack.
The hackers’ moves from Russia forced Ukraine to engage this specific IT community to defend itself. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has sent a message to the Ukrainian hacking community to join the country’s defense mission and to act offensively against Russia in cyber espionage operations.
The well-known hacking forum Ridforums, which trades in stolen data, announced that the forum was closed to users from Russia, which clearly sided with Ukraine.
All these developments are a clear sign that cyber security is extremely important in today’s world. Although everything that happens in Ukraine is subject to manipulation and there is a lot of false information, it is obvious that cyber security is of great importance for all parties to this conflict.
