Russian media sites replaced with ‘tombstone’ for war dead in mass cyber attack
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Russian media sites have been hacked and replaced with a “tombstone” for the war dead, in a mass cyber attack.
It is the latest high profile cyber attack made as part of the fight against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and took down a host of Russian media sites, including TASS and Kommersant.
Hackers appeared to associate themselves with Anonymous, the loose internet activist collective that has seen renewed activity as tensions have risen.
The message included the number “5,300”, the number of Russian troops that Ukraine claims to have killed.
It also includes anti-war messages, suggesting that Vladimir Putin has begun the war to “get into the history books”.
At the bottom were the words “Anonymous”, and the besuited figure that the group uses as a symbol.
The message also warns that it will eventually be deleted, and that attackers could be fired or imprisoned. “But we can’t stand it anymore,” the message reads.
Soon after it appeared, the post was deleted but the sites affected – which included many of Russia’s biggest domestic news sites – were still offline.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments