Just recently, we reported that at least 300,000 volunteer hackers have now joined forces in what has been dubbed the “IT Army” to assist in the ongoing digital fight against Russia, according to new numbers and data.
And now, according to a new report from Independent, the digital war against Russia and Vladimir Putin’s wildly unchecked propaganda doesn’t end there.
The international hacktivist collective dubbed Anonymous has now publicly claimed that they have gained remote access to unsecured printers “all over Russia” and made the devices print out “anti-propaganda” information regarding the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine, as Russian citizens struggle to find true, reliable news under Putin’s reign of terror.
In a reported tweet, the group of activist hackers announced, “We have been printing anti-propaganda and Tor installation instructions to printers all over [Russia] for 2 hours, and printed 100,000+ copies so far. 15 people working on this op as we speak.”
One member of the activist collective spoke with International Business Times in regard to the massive Russian printer hack and explained that they are including instructions to teach Russians how to install Tor, an open-source internet browser that would allow Anonymous to communicate with citizens of the country to continue to provide them with truthful updates regarding the war.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
One member of the hacker group that goes by DepaixPorteur on Twitter told IBT, “We hacked printers all across Russia and printed this PDF explaining that Putin/Kremlin/Russian media is lying and then we instructed how to install Tor and get around their censorship to access real media.”
The same Anonymous member tweeted, “We’re currently launching a printer attack on 156 [Russian] printers. Already over 40,000+ copies.”
We are #Anonymous
We’re currently launching a printer attack on 156 #Russian printers
Already over 40,000+ copies#OpUkraine #OpRussia pic.twitter.com/4wCbBHYg3l
— Anonymous 🍀 (@DepaixPorteur) March 20, 2022
A Google Lens translation revealed that the document attached to the Anonymous member’s tweet called on Russian citizens to “stop terrorists.”
Translated with google lens: pic.twitter.com/gyDCIUtikZ
— Optimistic Celtics Fan ☘️ (45-28) 🇺🇦 (@BballCeltics33) March 20, 2022
“Putin killing over thousands in Ukraine. The people of Russia must find horror in Putin’s actions,” the translation reportedly reads.
“Protest Putin’s illegal war and spread the truth about his lies… Fight for your heritage and honour. Overthrow Putin’s corrupt system that steals from your pockets.”
This is far from the first digital attack the hacktivist collective has launched against Russia since Putin invaded and attacked Ukraine in late February. Earlier this month, the Anonymous group hacked into numerous streaming services and television channels in Russia to show raw footage of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The hacking collective [Anonymous] hacked into the Russian streaming services Wink and Ivi (like Netflix) and live TV channels Russia 24, Channel One, Moscow 24 to broadcast war footage from Ukraine [today],” the collective announced on Twitter in early March amid Putin’s violent crackdown on anti-war protests and information regarding his war against Ukraine.
The hacking collective #Anonymous hacked into the Russian streaming services Wink and Ivi (like Netflix) and live TV channels Russia 24, Channel One, Moscow 24 to broadcast war footage from Ukraine [today] pic.twitter.com/hzqcXT1xRU
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) March 6, 2022
The Russian parliament has recently approved a law that now makes it a criminal offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison to spread anything deemed by the Kremlin as “fake news” (does that term sound familiar to anyone?) regarding the war against Ukraine, which the Russian government will only refer to as a “special military operation.”
The Anonymous collective has revealed that they have several more hacks up their sleeves, including a data dump that would “blow Russia away.”
The old saying goes, “Not all heroes wear capes,” and that certainly rings more true now than ever. In fact, some heroes have no face at all.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons – The Presidential Press and Information Office/B_A licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license/the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
