Government Officials: Cyber assault leads to temporary outage of WhatsApp and Telegram in Russia
The justification provided was a "DDoS assault on Russian telecom providers." DDoS assaults, a fairly straightforward technique to disrupt a system, involve flooding it with excessive requests. As per Roskomnadzor, the assault was eventually thwarted, allowing regular operations to restart by 3:00 PM. No offender was apprehended right away.
Russian cyberattacks of this nature are uncommon. Since the commencement of hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has intensified its internet control, prohibiting several platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X. These platforms, however, can still be accessed using VPN connections.
YouTube, on the other hand, has not been blocked, despite persistent speculations of a ban. Even before March 2022, Roskomnadzor had accused Google and YouTube of "terrorist" activities.
Ukraine, conversely, has witnessed numerous cyberattacks since the start of the Russian offensive. These attacks often targeted the government websites. Ukrainian officials frequently point the finger at Russia for their involvement, a claim that Moscow rejects.
The European Union has expressed concern over the intensified internet control in Russia, including the bans on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The European Union also supports Ukraine in its allegations of frequent cyberattacks, mostly originating from Russia.
