Ukraine and Russia's emergency alert apps hit by cyberattacks
What's the story
Both Ukraine and Russia have reported cyberattacks targeting their emergency alert apps. The attacks took place on Sunday night, with both countries' systems sending out false alarms about air raids and other potential threats like nuclear attacks. In Ukraine, the widely used Air Alert app issued nationwide red-level air raid warnings around 11:00pm local time.
Alert details
False alarms of radiation and chemical attacks
The false alarms weren't just limited to air raids but also included warnings of radiation, chemical attacks, and street fighting.
One alert on Telegram read: "The Air Alarm application has probably been subjected to hostile interference. There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel."
The central intelligence agency in Ukraine confirmed a malfunction in the app and advised people to seek information from other sources regarding potential air strikes.
Russian response
Russian app allegedly hacked by Ukraine-supporting group Atesh
Hours after the Ukrainian attack, Russia's emergency situations ministry reported a "massive cyberattack" on its app.
The hack was said to have been carried out by Atesh, a partisan Ukrainian group operating in Russian-occupied territory.
They allegedly sent fake alerts warning of a nuclear threat inside Russia.
A screenshot of the fake alert shared by Atesh on Telegram warned users that "nuclear warheads mounted on P1-Suns [a Ukrainian attack drone] had been launched at all regions of Russia."
Cyberattack impact
Russia says public alert system not affected
The Russian emergencies ministry later said that specialists were still working to restore normal operations of the app but stressed that the hack did not affect the country's overall alert system.
"The hacking of the mobile app has not had, and cannot have any impact on the operation of the public alert system," it said on its Telegram channel.