Ukraine and Russia emergency alert apps hacked to send fake warnings
False alerts regarding radiation, chemical attacks, and nuclear strikes were sent to residents in both countries on Sunday night.
Emergency alert applications in Ukraine and Russia were hacked on Sunday night to send false warnings to residents, according to BBC News. The breaches resulted in fake notifications concerning air raids, chemical threats, and nuclear strikes.
In Ukraine, the Air Alert app sent nationwide red-level warnings starting around 22:47. Some residents in areas including Kyiv received additional false messages regarding radiation, chemical attacks, and street fighting.
The Ukrainian Central Intelligence Agency stated there was a failure in the app and advised people to use other information sources. The Ministry of Digital Transformation said it took the app offline for maintenance after it appeared to have been compromised.
A few hours later, Russia's ministry of emergency situations reported its app had been subjected to a massive cyberattack that sent fake information to the public. A Ukrainian partisan group, Atesh, claimed the hack sent fake nuclear threat warnings to users inside Russia.
Oleksander Merezhko, chair of the foreign affairs committee in the Ukrainian parliament, told the BBC that the attack did not cause extreme panic. He noted that many messages were written in Russian, which raised immediate suspicions among users.
The Russian emergencies ministry said specialists were working to restore the app but maintained that the hack did not affect the country's overall public alert system.