The 2nd of September, Cyber News
russia
Attacks of the IT Army of Ukraine
Ukrainian hackers made sure that the greetings from the President of Ukraine on September 1 were seen on all TV channels in the occupied Crimea. Because the Crimea is Ukraine. And our citizens must watch Ukrainian television throughout the territory of the sovereign state! 1
Hackers Created an Enormous Traffic Jam in Moscow
Dozens of drivers working for Yandex Taxi in Moscow likely had a frustrating day. Hackers breached the app, sending dozens of cars to the exact location, forming a traffic jam that lasted up to three hours.
Reports on Twitter claim that cars were sent to the Kutuzovsky Prospekt, a major avenue in Moscow. One of the best-known objects in the area is the stalinist-era building, the «Hotel Ukraina» or Hotel Ukraine.
Yandex Taxi is owned by russia’s largest IT corporation Yandex, often dubbed the russian Google. EU has sanctioned the company’s co-founder Arkady Volozh, claiming his search engine is «de-ranking and removing content critical of the kremlin, such as content related to russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine».
While it’s unclear who was responsible for the Yandex Taxi hack, the Twitter page Anonymous TV claims that the Anonymous collective was behind the breach, which is part of a more extensive hacking campaign against russia, dubbed «Oprussia».
According to russia’s cyber policy expert Oleg Shakirov, hackers likely bypassed Yandex’s safety measures, creating multiple fake orders that prompted drivers to simultaneously go to the same location. 2
Squad303 Continues Its Campaign Against russian Businessmen
Anonymous Collective Squad303 has published a list of russians who have great economic influence in the UK. 3
World
Montenegro Blames Cuba Ransomware for Attacking the Country
The cyberattack that crippled the Montenegro government’s digital infrastructure was likely carried out by a russia-linked Cuba ransomware gang, authorities claim. Montenegro’s Public Administration Minister Maras Dukaj told state television hackers had created a special virus for the attack called Zerodate, Reuters reports. Dukaj claims that 150 workstations in 10 state institutions were infected due to a cyberattack against the NATO member.
Government internet sites have been closed since the attack, which Montenegro’s National Security Agency (ANB) has linked to russia, although the extent of any data theft is unclear. Local authorities attributed the attack to the Cuba ransomware group.
«We have already got an official confirmation, it can also be found on the dark web where the documents that were hacked from our system’s computers will be published,» Dukaj said.
Group’s ransomware leak site lists data stolen from Montenegro’s government. Hackers claim to have stolen financial documents, correspondence with financial institutions, account movements, balance sheets, tax documents, and other data. Cuba ransomware claims that the documents were taken on 19 August.
Montenegro’s parliament representatives say that data the group claimed to have obtained was publicly available on its website. Authorities say they are yet to receive any ransom demands.
In light of the attack, the interior ministry said the FBI will send Cyber Action Teams to Montenegro to help investigate the attacks. Government officials have confirmed local authorities suspected russia was behind the attacks, saying they could be retaliation after NATO-member Montenegro joined EU sanctions against russia and expelled several russian diplomats. 4
