Ukrainian hackers celebrate Putin\u2019s birthday with two high-profile attacks | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"The attacks targeted Russia\u2019s leading state media provider and the country\u2019s courts system.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/russian-media-cyberattack-ukraine-courts-putin-birthday\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ukrainian hackers celebrate Putin\u2019s birthday with two high-profile attacks\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The attacks targeted Russia\u2019s leading state media provider and the country\u2019s courts system.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/russian-media-cyberattack-ukraine-courts-putin-birthday\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-07T19:53:08+00:00\"> <meta 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js-stickybar\">\n<div class=\"stickybar__details\" readability=\"4.952380952381\">\n<div class=\"stickybar__info js-sticky-bar-content\" readability=\"32\">\n<p>Voting is open for the 2024 CyberScoop 50 awards! <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <a class=\"stickybar__link button button-tertiary\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cyberscoop50\/vote\/\">Click here!<\/a> <\/div>\n<p> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"24.676844783715\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"28.995305164319\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/geopolitics\/\"> <span>Geopolitics<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> The attacks targeted Russia\u2019s leading state media provider and the country\u2019s courts system. <\/p>\n<p>   <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"425\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks.jpg?resize=640%2C425&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks-2.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks-2.jpg?resize=300,199 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks-2.jpg?resize=768,510 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks-2.jpg?resize=1024,681 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks-2.jpg?resize=1536,1021 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks-2.jpg?resize=600,399 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks-2.jpg?resize=253,168 253w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks-2.jpg?resize=507,337 507w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks-2.jpg?resize=1016,675 1016w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks-2.jpg?resize=1268,843 1268w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1016px) 100vw, 1016px\"><figcaption> Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via a video link at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 28, 2022. (Photo by PAVEL BYRKIN\/SPUTNIK\/AFP via Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"44.021835677276\"><body readability=\"88.633802816901\"><\/p>\n<p>A pair of hacking operations seemingly tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s birthday targeted the country\u2019s top state media provider and the websites associated with its court and judicial system. <\/p>\n<p>VGTRK, the provider of top Russian state media outlets, suffered the attack late Sunday into Monday, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gazeta.ru\/tech\/news\/2024\/10\/07\/24092647.shtml\">according to Gazeta<\/a>, a Russian news outlet. The attack was first announced early Monday morning by the \u201csudo rm-RF\u201d hacking group <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/sudormRF6\/status\/1843153079535046660\">on its X account<\/a>. Around the same time, a group calling itself \u201cBO Team\u201d claimed responsibility on its Telegram channel for the attack on the judicial system. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHappy birthday, d\u2013khead,\u201d BO Team wrote, according to a machine translation. The same message was included in the sudo rm -RF X announcement. Putin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/europe\/vladimir-putin-age-brithday-russia-b2624952.html\">turned 72<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>VGTRK did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday but TASS, another state-owned Russian news outlet, <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.ru\/ekonomika\/22058215\">quoted the company<\/a> as saying that while the attack was \u201cunprecedented,\u201d there was \u201cno significant damage done.\u201d The news outlets\u2019 websites seemed to be back up and running as of early afternoon Monday, but the judicial website remained inaccessible.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Russian officials told reporters that the VGTRK attack was significant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur state media holding, one of the largest, has faced an unprecedented hacker attack on its digital infrastructure,\u201d Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/cybersecurity\/russian-state-media-company-hit-by-unprecedented-cyberattack-kremlin-says-2024-10-07\/\">according to Reuters<\/a>. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Moscow would raise the issue \u201cin all international forums,\u201d the news outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>A pro-Ukrainian hacking group, sudo rm-RF had <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/shakirov2036\/status\/1843206623227199946\">claimed previous hack<\/a>s on RuTube in 2022 and MosgorBTI in 2023, according to Oleg Shakirov, a PhD student at Johns Hopkins University\u2019s School of Advanced International Studies and and a Russian cyber policy expert.<\/p>\n<p>Shakirov told CyberScoop in an online chat Monday that the full extent of the attack on VGTRK is unknown, but indications are that it \u201cis significant\u201d and reportedly included destructive elements. The group\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rferl.org\/a\/russia-ukrainian-hackers\/32537426.html\">attack on MosgorBTI<\/a>, Moscow\u2019s property registration system, required a new website to be built from scratch, Shakirov said.<\/p>\n<p>The attack on the courts targeted a centralized system called GAS Pravosudie, he added, which has been inaccessible since early Monday morning. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe attack on the courts system has received much less attention than the one on VGTRK but can have serious implications,\u201d Shakirov said, noting that the system is \u201cquite big and used not only for public info.\u201d So far there have \u201conly been reports about access to websites and no evidence that the work of courts was disrupted in any way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>BO Team has claimed responsibility for a series of destructive cyberattacks over the past year in the context of defending Ukraine against Russian assault. In August, for instance, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on an internet provider that serviced a Russian nuclear contractor in the city of Snezhinsk, one of Russia\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nti.org\/analysis\/articles\/russias-ten-nuclear-cities\/\">closed<\/a>\u201d cities involved in the country\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n<p>That attack and others have reportedly included collaboration with the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR). The agency <a href=\"https:\/\/gur.gov.ua\/en\/content\/problema-masshtabnaia-ukrainski-kiberaktyvisty-atakuvaly-rosiiski-kompanii-iaki-pidtrymuiut-viinu.html\">has in the past acknowledged<\/a> cyberattacks on Russian targets in collaboration with BO Team. <\/p>\n<p>The agency has carried out more than 100 \u201clarge-scale cyber operations\u201d in Russia since the beginning of the full scale invasion, the agency said in <a href=\"https:\/\/gur.gov.ua\/en\/content\/operatsii-hur-v-kiberprostori\">a message on its website<\/a>, as part of its mission to collect intelligence and \u201cdamage and destroy the enemy\u2019s equipment used for transmitting information or for the functioning of the financial and economic activities of specific institutions or companies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"1.2522935779817\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"8\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"AJ Vicens\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by AJ Vicens<\/h4>\n<p> AJ covers nation-state threats and cybercrime. He was previously a reporter at Mother Jones. 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{"id":5652,"date":"2024-10-07T14:53:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T19:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=82048"},"modified":"2024-10-07T14:53:08","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T19:53:08","slug":"ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/10\/07\/ukrainian-hackers-celebrate-putins-birthday-with-two-high-profile-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian hackers celebrate Putin\u2019s birthday with two high-profile attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"