Anonymous Affiliate Hacks State-Run Russian Broadcaster

NB65, a hacking group affiliated with the Anonymous collective, has allegedly breached the servers of the Russian government-controlled television and radio broadcasting company. According to social media reports, the hackers are preparing to release hundreds of gigabytes of appropriated data.

Russia’s Radio and TV Broadcaster Targeted by Anonymous

The All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) has been reportedly hacked by NB65, a group linked to Anonymous, the international hacktivist collective which declared cyberwar on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Anonymous TV (@YourAnonTV), a Twitter account associated with the decentralized movement, broke the news on the microblogging network this week. According to its post, the hackers are going to publish almost 900 GB of leaked data on the internet.

JUST IN: Hacking group ‘NB65’ (@xxNB65), affiliated with #Anonymous has hacked and breached the VGTRK (All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company). Total data being prepared for release is 870GB. #DDoSecrets will release it in the near future. #OpRussia #FCKPTN pic.twitter.com/W2sTvoVQG9

— Anonymous TV 🇺🇦 (@YourAnonTV) March 27, 2022

VGTRK, also referred to as Russian Television and Radio, is Russia’s largest media corporation which manages dozens of national and regional TV and radio stations as well as online outlets in Russian and other languages.

Under the company’s umbrella are the national television channels “Rossiya 1” and “Rossiya K,” the country’s first 24/7 news channel “Rossiya 24,” the sports and entertainment “Rossiya 2,” and the international service “RTR Planeta.”

Anonymous reports that they managed to hack server of the VGTRK (#Russian TV and Radio Company), whose main asset is the Russia-1 channel

Top propagandists Solovyov, Skabeyeva, and Popov host their programs on this channel.

870 GB of data will be made public in the near future. https://t.co/HFoTlp9uzi

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 28, 2022

After the Russian military forces crossed the Ukrainian border in late February, Anonymous vowed to disrupt Russia’s internet space. The websites of the Kremlin, the State Duma, and the Defense Ministry were then targeted.

The group also threatened to hack Russian state-run TV channels in order “to broadcast the truth about what happens in Ukraine.” The government-funded international network Russia Today (RT) admitted it had suffered a massive DDoS attack.

Last week, Anonymous said it had hacked the Central Bank of Russia. Although the monetary authority denied the claim, the collective later released 28GB of data, allegedly belonging to the regulator, which contains many documents, including hundreds of audit reports, “secret agreements,” and information revealing bank ownership.

The hackers have also been hitting the websites of foreign companies that are still operating in the Russian Federation despite mounting Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine. The group has issued calls for these businesses to leave the country.

Do you expect Anonymous hackers to continue to target Russian organizations? Tell us in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons