Global hacking group Anonymous launches ‘cyber war’ against Russia

The online hacking activist, or “hacktivist,” group Anonymous, whose adherents often disguise their identities with Guy Fawkes masks, is claiming responsibility for disruptions to Russian and Belarusian-backed websites.

The shadowy online group known as Anonymous is said to be in a cyber war against the Russian government.

A post from an account called "Anonymous" summoned hackers around the world after Russia invaded Ukraine.

A post from the account on February 24 said the group was getting ready to take action against the country and would be using social media to spread the word.

The account claimed to have disabled websites belonging to the Russian oil giant, the state-controlled Russian news agency, and many other agencies.

Russia may be using bombs to drop on innocent people, but Anonymous uses lasers to kill Russian government websites.a post via an Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account

Subsequent posts took credit for disrupting Russian internet service providers, leaking documents and emails from the Belarusian weapons manufacturer, and shutting down a gas supply provided by the Russian telecommunications service Tvingo Telecom.

The account holder summarized the group's intentions in a post last week, which stated that they had operations to keep the.ru government website offline and push information to the Russian people so they can be free of Putin. We have ongoing operations to keep the Ukrainian people online.

Russia may be using bombs to drop on innocent people, but Anonymous uses lasers to kill Russian government websites.

The person behind the account denied that it is the official account of the group. There is no official account for #Anonymous.

It appears to be one of the largest accounts on the social media site, as it is one of many that act under the larger umbrella of Anonymous.

It is difficult to support the group's claims since anonymity is a key part of the collective.

Many of the websites that the group claimed to have knocked down are currently disabled or not at all.

An article published on February 28 confirmed that the Kremlin's website had been shut down by Anonymous last Friday. The group replaced the main pages of other Russian and Belarusian media outlets on Monday with a message to stop the war.

It's not the first example of how global players are using their leverage, big or small, to protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Empty spaces in the shelves of a vodka section of a Pennsylvania liquor store after Russian labels were removed.

Russia is believed to be engaging in its own version of cyber warfare. Last week, destructive data wiping software hit Ukrainian governmental agencies and financial institutions. Russia denied any involvement, according to the news agency.

Several of Ukraine's governmental websites were shut down last week in denial-of-service attacks. Since the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, Ukraine has been the target of digital attacks.

A post by theAnonymous account on the social networking site last week said that the group is not at war with Russia as a whole or its people.

The identities of those behind Anonymous are a mystery. A pinned message on theAnonymous account states that they are working class people who want a better future for humanity and agree on a few basic principles.

The governments of the United States and China, as well as the Church of Scientology and the Islamic State group, have been targeted by Anonymous in the past.