‘The Black Rabbit World’, a hacker acting on behalf of Anonymous, seems to have managed break into the video surveillance systems of the Russian government. At least, this was confirmed by one of the community accounts of hacktivists through his Twitter profile. The publication shows a video where content supposedly recorded by the security cameras present in the Kremlin facilities is broadcast, and with a quote from one of the hackers who says the following: “We will not stop until we reveal all your secrets. They will not be able to stop. Now we are inside the castle, Kremlin.”
It is not the first time that Anonymous would have hacked one of the Kremlin’s services. The hacker community, in fact, claimed on February 24 — the day Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine — that they had launched a “cyber war against the Russian government.” Days later, one of the group’s accounts, apparently intended to show the results of the hacks, showed as they had changed the programming of the Russian channels to broadcast what is happening in ukraine.
Let us remember that Russia justifies the war as a “military operation” and hides from its citizens the real impact of the war, such as the destruction in the different cities or the number of deaths. To do this, they resort to chains and media outlets affiliated with their government. These are in charge of distributing disinformation about the armed conflict. Anonymous’s mission, therefore—at least, for the most part—is to offer russian citizens “the truth about the invasion of ukraine“. This was confirmed in a tweet where they claimed to have sent 7,000,000 text messages to Russian users about the war.
It is not clear what Anonymous’s objective is when it comes to taking control of the security cameras. However, it is likely that it is one of the many warnings that the hacker group has been sending to the Russian government through its social profiles.
Hacktivists like Anonymous have been active against Russia even before the war started
Anonymous is not the only group of hacktivists what has he taken measures to try to stop the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In fact, we have seen similar strategies being carried out even before the government of Vladimir Putin started the war. Specifically, when a group of hackers called ‘Cyber Partisans’ blocked the private network of the Belarusian railway through ransomware. The objective was to slow down and interrupt the circulation of the Belarusian railway system, used by the Russian government to transport troops and weapons to the borders and thus be able to start the war at any time.
Belarus, let us remember, is a great ally of Russia. The country also borders the nation governed by Vladimir Putin. Also with Ukraine It has therefore served as a gateway for the Russian army. The hack did not stop the Belarusian government from collaborating with Russia. Neither are the activities of Anonymous likely to. However, it is one more example that confirms that war is also, in part, digital.