Anonymous claimed that it hacked the Central Bank of Russia and that in 48 hours it will publish 35,000 secret files

The hacker collective also warned Western companies that have not left Russia that they have two days to leave the country before becoming their next targets

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The international hacker collective “Anonymous” claimed to have infiltrated the Russian Central Bank and is threatening to release 35,000 files that include “secret deals” in the next 48 hours.

The Russian Central Bank is responsible for protecting and ensuring the security of the ruble, a currency whose value has plummeted since the invasion of Ukraine began last month.

Through one of their Twitter accounts, the group of hackers revealed their most recent feat, although they gave limited details about the fact.

The publication consists of an image showing the classic mask of Guy Fawkes that has become the icon of hacktivism and a message that reads: “Last minute: The #Anonymous collective has hacked the Central Bank of Russia. Over 35,000 files will be released in 48 hours with secret agreements. #OpRusia”.

The attack comes amid uncertainty and speculation about the future of the current head of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, who recently uploaded a strange video acknowledging that the Russian economy was in an “extreme” situation.

“We would all like it very much if this had not happened,” Nabiullina said in her post.

But Vladimir Putin asked parliament this week to nominate her for another term, apparently disrupting rumors that she might resign in protest of the war.

Earlier this week, Anonymous warned Western companies that continue to operate in Russia that they must withdraw or risk facing cyber attacks in light of the invasion of Ukraine.

The collective is responsible for several attacks on Russian state-controlled media and government websites in which it forcibly exchanged Kremlin-led programming for videos of bloodshed on the ground in Ukraine and anti-war statements.

Anonymous claimed that it hacked the Central Bank of Russia and gave a 48-hour ultimatum to publish 35,000 secret files
The publication in which Anonymous announces its attack on the Central Bank of Russia.

Anonymous has also conducted cyber raids on organizations such as Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor and the Russian intelligence and security service FSB, leaking thousands of classified documents to expose the details of Putin's plans to conquer Ukraine and undermine the Kremlin's internal propaganda campaign.

But now, hacktivists are turning their attention to large corporations that have not yet suspended their operations in Russia in the midst of the war.

The official Anonymous Twitter account published yesterday that companies had 48 hours to 'withdraw' from Russia or face becoming the target of new attacks.

The same account stated on Thursday that its #OpRussia cyber campaign was “launching unprecedented attacks” on Russian government websites and would double the capacity of its attacks.

“We call on all companies that continue to operate in Russia by paying taxes to the budget of the Kremlin criminal regime: Withdraw from Russia! '” , they wrote as a “press release” where they culminated in an ultimatum.

The announcement was accompanied by an image showing a variety of company logos ranging from the Halliburton oilfield services corporation to the Citrix cloud computing service.

Anonymous claimed that it hacked the Central Bank of Russia and gave a 48-hour ultimatum to publish 35,000 secret files
The hackers also attacked several official Russian government sites.

Both Halliburton and Citrix had already announced before the Anonymous tweet that they had suspended their operations in Russia, adding to a long list of multinational corporations such as McDonald's and IKEA that have stopped offering their services.

However, food giant Nestle has doubled its operations in Russia and announced that it will continue to sell products there despite being one of the main targets of the anti-war protests.

The largest food and beverage company in the world was called yesterday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who urged the Swiss giant to cease operations in Russia.

He highlighted Nestlé and its slogan 'good food, good life'.

“Business works in Russia even though our children are dying and our cities are being destroyed,” he said.

But the company argued that it was not making a profit from its operations in Russia and that it was only delivering “essential products” there while continuing to distribute food in some of the most affected Ukrainian cities.

While Anonymous's promise to punish companies operating in the region has been widely praised on social media, some cybersecurity experts have expressed concern about praising the work of computer hackers who regularly operate outside the law.

Anonymous claimed that it hacked the Central Bank of Russia and gave a 48-hour ultimatum to publish 35,000 secret files
One of his previous attacks consisted of hacking hundreds of printers to spread information about the war in Ukraine and instructions to defeat internet censorship in Russia.

Others have expressed concern that multinationals' decisions to suspend their operations in Russia will only serve to punish millions of innocent Russians whose livelihoods will be affected.

On March 15, Anonymous took down several Russian state-owned websites, including that of the Russian Intelligence and Security Service (FSB).

Using the military term 'Tango down' in relation to the websites they had successfully compromised, the organization announced through social networks that they had hacked the websites of Moscow.ru, the Analysis Center of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation and the FSB.

Anonymous also leaked private correspondence between Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, outlining plans to cut down Ukrainian forests.

The letter published by Anonymous on Twitter is allegedly from Minister Shoigu and reads: “Dear Vladimir... In order to create fortifications to provide formations, military units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation involved in a special military operation, logging is required in defense and other categories, followed by the use of the resulting timber by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”

The letter added that the funds will be used “in the interest of the defense”.

Earlier this month, Anonymous claimed to have hacked Russia's media censorship agency and published 340,000 files of the federal agency Roskomnadzor, stealing classified documents that were later passed to the transparency organization Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDOSecrets), which published them online.

The trove of 820 gigabytes of emails and attachments showed how the Kremlin is censoring anything that refers to its brutal invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls instead a “special military operation”.

The leader and co-founder of DDOSecrets is Emma Best, a US-based leaker who has previously focused on Russian government agencies and U.S. law enforcement in the wake of George Floyd's protests.

Anonymous claimed that it hacked the Central Bank of Russia and gave a 48-hour ultimatum to publish 35,000 secret files
Anonymous shared a correspondence between Putin and a Russian general to cut down trees in Ukraine.

Anonymous's latest alleged cyber attack in Russia has targeted printing presses.

A member of the collective whose Twitter handle is DePaixPorteur announced on Sunday night: 'We are currently launching an attack on 156 Russian printers so far. '

The user claimed that Anonymous was hacking unsecured Russian printers on various networks and printing documents stamped with anti-war messages and instructions on how to download and install Tor, an open-source anonymous navigation software, to help Russians evade Kremlin media censors.

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