Musings From Abroad

Anonymous lay claims to hacking Russia’s Central Bank, vows to release 35,000 secret agreements in 48 hours

Published

1 year ago

March 25, 2022

Hacking collective group, Anonymous, claims it has hacked into the Russian Central Bank, and has access to around 35,000 files of secret agreements it would release in the next 48 hours.

The hacking group which made the announcement on its Twitter account on Thursday, said the attack on the Russian apex bank is in continuation of its self-appointed cyberwar against offensive countries and high profile organisations in different parts of the world.

Though the Twitter account purportedly belonging to the group has not yet given proof that it had successfully undertaken the hack, or that it had access to the promised documents, the alleged invasion follows reports that the bank’s governor, Elvira Nabiullina, had attempted to resign following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Her offer to resign was, however, rejected, with President Vladimir Putin nominating her for a third term in the role, and Nabiullina has been trying to keep the economy afloat despite a raft of sanctions imposed by other countries, with many companies pulling out of Russia.

Since the Ukrainian invasion, Anonymous, and other closely aligned hacker groups, have been targeting Russian assets and companies.

On Thursday they, again, repeated their call for international companies continuing to operate in Russia to pull out immediately.

“Although some companies have responded to our request to stop their activities in Russia, there are still companies that refuse to leave Russia.

“Our last call is clear: Stop operating in Russia immediately if you have little mercy left for the massacred children in Ukraine,” their tweet said.

“Immediately stop your activity in Russia if you feel sorry for the innocent people who are being massacred violently in Ukraine.

“Your time is running out. We do not forgive. We do not forget,” another tweet reads.

Earlier in the week, GhostSec, a subsidiary of the Anonymous collective, claimed to have hacked printers in Russia to print out over 10,000 anti-Putin and anti-war messages.

“This isn’t your war. This is your government’s war,” the message said.

“Your brothers and sisters are being lied to, some units think they’re practicing military drills, however, when they arrive to what they think is a drill they’re greeted by bloodthirsty Ukrainians who want redemption and revenge from the damage that Putin’s puppets cause upon the land.”

Anonymous had previously claimed to hacking Russian television for the same purposes.

“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,” the group said at the time.

Related Topics:Anonymous Featured Hacking Invasion Russia Ukraine

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Musings From Abroad

Angola, Portugal sign 13-point pact spanning finance, law, others

Published

1 day ago

June 6, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Angola and Portugal have signed a Memorandum of Understanding including 13 different agreements that cut across financial, legal and other critical areas.

The Angolan President, João Lourenço, who received his Portuguese counterpart, António Costa on Monday, revealed that the country was enthusiastic about partnering with its erstwhile colonialist.

“I have to say that we sensed a great willingness to collaborate on the part of the Portuguese justice system, with whom we were able to exchange not only information but also the alignment of Angola’s anti-corruption strategy and to say that in principle everything that was asked of the Portuguese authorities so that we could find the right correspondent”, president Lourenço said.

The Portuguese president announced a rise in its financial commitment to Angola which is a top oil producer in Africa.

“To support the Angolan government’s ambition and strategic approach to diversifying the country’s economy, we have significantly increased the credit line from one thousand five hundred to two billion euros”, announced Costa.

The new agreement will run till 2027. The economies of Angola and Portugal are deeply intertwined, and the two countries share a language and cultural heritage.

According to consular statistics, approximately 100,000 Portuguese nationals work in Angola, with approximately 10,000 Portuguese firms operating in a variety of sectors such as construction, engineering, hospitality, law, and financial services.

Musings From Abroad

Israeli PM, Netanyahu demands investigation over killing of soldiers in Egypt

Published

2 days ago

June 5, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an explanation from Egyptian authorities following the reported killing of three Israeli soldiers by a member of the Egyptian security services.

He told his cabinet in televised remarks that “Israel relayed a clear message to the Egyptian government. We expect that the joint investigation will be exhaustive and thorough.

“We will refresh procedures and methods of operations and also the measures to reduce to a minimum the smuggling and to ensure tragic terrorist attacks like this do not happen again.”

Three Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack near Egypt’s border by a gunman wearing an Egyptian police uniform— the first deadly exchange along the border shared by the two countries in more than a decade.

According to the Israeli military, two soldiers were killed by an Egyptian policeman while securing a military post near the Egyptian border early Saturday. According to the report, the Egyptian officer and a third Israeli soldier were killed in a clash on Israeli territory hours later.

Israeli military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, while addressing journalists, said: “From that moment a terrorist event was declared, leading to sweeps of the area.”

He also revealed that “a drone was sent up and 1.5 kilometres inside Israel a suspicious person was identified.”

Egypt’s relationship with Israel is complicated and has evolved significantly over time. Despite having fought four wars, the two countries now work closely together, primarily on security issues.