Russia's federal television and radio broadcaster WGTRK said it was the target of an “unprecedented” cyberattack last night. According to WGTRK, “radio and television broadcasts were not disrupted, the Internet services sector was attacked.” The attack occurred on President Vladimir Putin's birthday.
WGTRK is the largest state-owned media holding in Russia and the main pillar of propaganda aimed mainly at Russian audiences. TV and radio channels – including: Rossiya 1, Rossiya-24 and Vesti FM – are among the most popular in the country.
“Despite attempts to interrupt the broadcasting of federal television channels and radio stations of the holding, everything is functioning normally, there is no major threat. Specialists are working to eliminate the effects of this harmful interference,” WGTRK reported in a Monday post on Telegram (Polish translation – All-Russian State Television and Radio Company) .
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskovreferring to the hacker attack, announced that an investigation is underway to determine who could have been the perpetrator of the attack on this “critical infrastructure facility.”
“It's gonna take a long time”
– Internet broadcasting and internal services are disabled. This will take a long time. I heard that (hackers) wiped everything from the servers, including backup copies, an interlocutor familiar with the situation told Gazeta.
The WGTRK holding includes the federal channels Rossiya-1, Rossiya-24, Rossiya Kultura, as well as over 80 regional television and radio stations broadcasting in all regions of Russia. WGTRK also owns five radio stations. After Russia's military invasion of Ukraine United StatesEU and Great Britain imposed sanctions on this broadcaster – recalled the independent Russian-language portal The Moscow Times.
The attack took place on October 7, the president's 72nd birthday Vladimir Putin.
PAP, The Moscow Times, tvn24.pl
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