Ukraine air raid app apparently hacked as users receive false radiation threat, Air Force says

According to the BBC News, Ukraine’s official air raid alert application was compromised by an apparent cyberattack on Sunday, triggering a series of false warnings across the country. Users received erroneous notifications regarding radiation, chemical attacks, and street fighting in Kyiv, alongside references to a nuclear strike. The Ukrainian Air Force and local officials quickly clarified that these threats were unfounded and advised the public to remain calm while the app was temporarily disabled for maintenance.

Regional leaders and Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation cautioned citizens against interacting with suspicious links in the notifications, which may have been phishing attempts, and urged them to rely on official channels for updates. Simultaneously, the Ukrainian Central Intelligence Agency confirmed a system failure and noted that the false signals had even triggered physical sirens in the Lviv region. The breach occurred just before the conclusion of a localized ceasefire in the front-line Kherson region.

Following the events in Ukraine, Russian authorities reported a similar cyberattack on their own emergency notification application. Russian officials stated that the hack disseminated fake information to the public, with reports suggesting that the alerts falsely warned of nuclear threats within Russia. The Ukrainian partisan group Atesh claimed responsibility for the incident on their social media, though these reports have not been independently verified.

Source: BBC News — https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51kdy1ew7zvo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss