Tag Archive for: Trolls

Cyberattacks hit Albania. Threat actors prospect journalists. GRU trolls researchers. CISA opens a liaison office in London.


Dateline Moscow, Kyiv: Notes on the hybrid war.

Ukraine at D+144: Firing for whatever effect. (The CyberWire) Heavy Russian artillery fire continues along the line of contact, The strikes are regarded as a preparation for a renewed offensive in the Donbas, as spoiling attacks against a feared Ukrainian counter-offensive in the southern region, as direct terrorism of the civilian population, as a crude expression of a deterrent to HIMARS attacks against high-value targets, and, finally, as a form of attack Russia’s army is actually able to carry out. In the cyber phase of the hybrid war, the GRU seems to be trolling researchers who look into its activities.

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 144 (Al Jazeera) As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 144th day, we take a look at the main developments.

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 144 of the invasion (the Guardian) Evacuations from Sviatohirsk Lavra in Donetsk; Russian forces reportedly preparing new offensive; all bodies identified after Vinnytsia missile attack

Russia-Ukraine war update: what we know on day 143 of the invasion (the Guardian) At least three killed and 15 hurt in Dnipro missile strike; UK says Kremlin responsible for British captive’s death; Ukraine reports May peak in military losses

Russia prepares for next Ukraine offensive in face of new Western weapons (Reuters) As Western deliveries of long-range arms begin to help Ukraine on the battlefield, Russian rockets and missiles have pounded cities in strikes that Kyiv says have killed dozens in recent days.

Ukraine braces for further Russian missile strikes as civilian death toll rises (the Guardian) At least 37 deaths across country since Thursday as residential areas appear to be targeted

Russian War Report: Russian missiles strike Vinnytsia (Atlantic Council) Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Ukrainian town on Vinnytsia, Russia’s public death toll grows, and Iran’s coverage of the war.

Russia escalating attacks on civilians, says top Ukrainian official (the Guardian) Head of national security council says ‘more and more civilian targets’ being hit, after deadly Vinnytsia attack

‘They have come to destroy us’: Ukrainians on…

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National bank hit by ransomware trolls hackers with dick pics


An eggplant

After suffering a ransomware attack by the Hive operation, the Bank of Zambia made it clear that they were not going to pay by posting a picture of male genitalia and telling the hackers to s… (well, you can use your imagination).

Last week, the Bank of Zambia, the country’s central bank, disclosed that recent technical outages resulted from a cyberattack.

“The Bank of Zambia wishes to inform members of the public that it experienced a partial disruption to some of its Information Technology (IT) applications on Monday 9th May 2022,” disclosed the bank in a press release.

“The disruption, which affected some systems at the Bank such as the Bureau De Change Monitoring System and the Website, emanated from a suspected cybersecurity incident. We wish to advise that these systems have since been fully restored.”

A texticular response

While the Bank of Zambia did not disclose the details of the cyberattack, BleepingComputer learned that the attack was conducted by the Hive ransomware operation, which claimed to have encrypted the bank’s Network Attached Storage (NAS) device.

However, instead of paying the ransom, the bank representatives responded to the ransom negotiation by making fun of the hacker’s ’14m3-sk1llz.’

They then proceeded to post a link to a dick pic while stating, “suck this dick and stop locking bank networks thinking that you will monetize something, learn to monetize.”

When BleepingComputer saw this chat on Monday, it was assumed that unrelated individuals hijacked the negotiation chat, which we have seen numerous times in the past.

This chat led security researcher MalwareHunterTeam to post a poll asking whether people felt pics like this in a ransom negotiation meant it was hijacked or the message was from the victim. 

The poll results were surprising, with the majority of responders saying it was from the victim.

Today, Bloomberg reported that the Bank’s Technical Director,…

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Anonymous news – live: Hacking attacks launched across Europe as internet activist group trolls Putin


While Ukrainian forces fight against the Russian military’s invasion, hackers from around the world are causing disruption to Russia’s digital infrastructure.

Hacking groups such as Anonymous and the Cyber Partisans have claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on Russia’s banks, state broadcaster RT, and a Belarusian rail network reportedly used to move troops from Russia to Ukraine.

Peace talks between the two countries are ongoing between the two nations, but it remains unclear how long the bloodshed will last. Currently, these cyber groups have said that they stand with Ukraine against Russia’s powerful online forces – causing disruption to stop the country’s own attacks against Ukraine and the West.

“DDoS alone will not bring down a regime”, one German Anonymous splinter group said in a blog post, but “Putin, who is using hacker squads and troll armies against Western democracies, is getting a sip of his own bitter medicine”.

The intention is to “keep the Russian IT apparatus busy and to provide Putin’s hacker troops … with defensive work so that they cannot do anything in Ukraine or the West . Obtaining information is also an important point and you just don’t see a lot of what activists are currently doing.”

Key points

  • Russian media sites replaced with ‘tombstone’ for war dead in mass cyber attack

  • Russian ransomware hackers pledge support to Putin and immediately have secret chats exposed by Ukrainian leaker

  • Russian hackers’ cyberattacks on Ukraine could breach Geneva Conventions, Microsoft chief warns

Russian hackers’ cyberattacks on Ukraine could breach Geneva Conventions, Microsoft chief warns

16:20 , Adam Smith

Microsoft’s president Brad Smith has said that Russia’s cyber attacks raise “serious concerns under the Geneva Convention”.

The attacks have been “precisely targeted”, with the company especially concerned about targets “including the financial sector, agriculture sector, emergency response services, humanitarian aid efforts, and energy sector organizations”

The Ukrainian government has also been warned about cyber attacks that could steal health, insurance, and transportation data that could personally identify…

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Racist trolls hijacked a Zoom town hall to hurl slurs at Connecticut’s first Black congresswoman – Washington Post

Racist trolls hijacked a Zoom town hall to hurl slurs at Connecticut’s first Black congresswoman  Washington Post
“HTTPS hijacking” – read more