Hackers blamed after Russian radio stations play warnings of missile strikes and air raids

1 year ago AndyC

Russian
media
has
blamed
hackers
after
commercial
radio
stations
in
the
country
broadcast
bogus
warnings
about
air
raids
and
missile
strikes.

The
Ministry
of
Emergency
Situations,
a
Russian
government
agency,

reportedly
warned
that
false
information
about
attacks
had
been
broadcast
on
stations
including
Gazprom
Media
stations
Relax
FM,
Comedy
Radio,
and
Humor
FM.

The
bogus
broadcast
warnings,
which
were
accompanied
by
loud
siren
noises,
advised
civillians
to
head
to
air
raid
shelters.

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As

The
Record

reports,
some
people
managed
to
record
today’s
fake
air
raid
warnings
on
camera.

Today,
radio
stations
across
Russia
including
in
Volgograd,
Stavropol,
Moscow
region
broadcasted
air
raid
warnings
(the
video
is
reportedly
from
Belgorod)

Acc
to
the
Ministry
of
Emergency
Situations
this
messages
is
fake
and
was
caused
by
a
hacker
attack

https://t.co/Cd7bGeVVAx

pic.twitter.com/wfuIjGQkyZ

—
Oleg
Shakirov
(@shakirov2036)

February
22,
2023

Yesterday,
state
media
websites
broadcasting
a
state
of
the
nation
speech
by
Russian
president
Vladimir
Putin
were

disrupted
by
an
apparent
denial-of-service
attack
for
which
Ukrainian
hackers
later
claimed
responsibility.

That
attack
must
have
been
particularly
galling,
as
–
before
the
speech
began
–
TV
channels
had
described
the
technical
preparations
that
had
been
made
to
ensure
that
the
live
stream
would
be
carried
across
all
of
Russian’s
major
TV
channels.

I
don’t
think
anyone
would
be
surprised
if
these
latest
bogus
air
raid
warnings
broadcast
over
the
radio
was
also
the
work
of
Ukrainian
hackers,
or
at
least
those
who
are
sympathetic
with
the
country’s
plight.

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About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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