Cyberattack on Russian TV: Ukrainian hackers broadcast war footage
Nine Russian television channels were attacked by hackers, leading to the broadcast of documentaries about the war in Ukraine. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is unofficially credited with the attack.
9:57 AM EDT, August 22, 2024
War recordings were shown to viewers of nine TV stations. The unauthorized broadcast of these materials, facilitated by the hacking, appeared three times during prime time.
The affected channels included Pervouralsk TV, Eurasia 360, and Eurasia Pierwyj Kanal. Most of the attacked broadcasters are part of the media holding owned by oligarch Andrei Komarov.
Cyberattack on Russian TV stations: Not the first time Ukraine strikes in digital space
Details of the hack were conveyed by a source in Ukrainian military intelligence to the Unian agency. The informant noted that by the morning of August 22, only a few channels, including Eurasia 360 and TV-3, had partially resumed operation. Others remained down for several more hours.
Television Pervouralsk issued an apology to viewers in a statement posted on VKontakte. The statement reported that "the attackers gained access to the live broadcast and launched unauthorized video materials that are contrary to the policy of the TV channel".
This incident is another element of cyber warfare that has been ongoing since the conflict began in February 2022. In early July, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR) claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on nearly 100 Russian websites supporting Kremlin activities, as well as on various Russian banks and financial institutions. Concurrently, Ukrainian Monobank was subjected to a two-day DDoS attack at the beginning of the week.
In June 2022, Ukrainian hackers hijacked the morning news edition of Kommersant FM, the radio division of the newspaper "Kommersant." Listeners unexpectedly heard the Ukrainian song "Tam na łące czerwona kalina".
Alexei Vorobyov, the station's editor-in-chief, confirmed the attack on the radio station's servers. In May, three radio stations in St. Petersburg played Ukrainian and anti-war songs for over two hours.
In July 2023, a Russian radio station broadcast a false announcement about President Vladimir Putin signing a decree to end the "special military operation" in Ukraine. This information was quickly debunked.
In March 2023, Russian viewers saw warnings about a missile attack on their TV screens. The false messages urged people to go to shelters and take potassium iodide pills.
Source: "Rzeczpospolita"
