Hackers hijacked Ukraine's and Russia's alert apps to send fake nuclear warnings

Hackers took over the official alert apps of Ukraine and Russia within hours of each other on November 1-2 and used them to push fake warnings about radiation, chemical attacks and nuclear strikes. In Ukraine the target was "Air Alert" (Povitryana Tryvoha), the app people use to know when to go to a shelter. In Russia it was the mobile app of the Emergencies Ministry. Both governments say their sirens and main warning systems kept working, and nobody has shown that the two attacks are linked.

On Sunday evening users in Kyiv got push alerts reading "There is a radiation hazard alert in Kyiv. Do not go outside!" and "There is a chemical attack alert in Kyiv. Do not go outside!", Fox News reported. Other notifications warned of street fighting in the capital and, in Russian, of a nuclear threat from the Oreshnik missile. The app's online map showed Kyiv and other regions under a nuclear alert.

The Ukrainian Air Force wrote on Telegram that the app "appears to have been subjected to enemy influence" and that there was no radiation threat. Its spokesman Yurii Ihnat said Russians had attacked the app overnight and that the Defence Forces were not affected, RBC-Ukraine reported. He noted that the app does not belong to the Air Force and is only an additional alert channel. A Russian hacker group called Hitcore claimed responsibility and said it got in by sending an administrator a malicious file disguised as an explicit photo. That account comes only from the hackers, as relayed by Lenta.ru, and Ukrainian officials have not confirmed how the attackers got in.

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