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.