Ukraine's air raid app hit by apparent hack with false alerts

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 1 Nov, 23:20 · Archive

Ukraine's air raid alert app was apparently hacked on Sunday, sending false warnings to users across the country, the Ukrainian Air Force said. The fake alerts began around 22:47 local time and included messages warning of radiation threats in Kyiv, nuclear alerts across Ukraine, and chemical and street fighting threats in the capital.

The alerts were issued in both Ukrainian and Russian. One message, written in Russian, read 'Hi! There will be a nuclear alert across Ukraine. Don't worry, it's Oreshnik flying'. The Ukrainian Central Intelligence Agency said there had been a failure in the app, and noted that the Radiation Hazard signal was also played on loudspeaker devices in the Lviv region.

Ukrainian authorities moved quickly to reassure the public. The Air Force said on Telegram: 'There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel.' The Ukrainian Centre for Countering Disinformation warned that the information broadcast on the app did not correspond to reality, and urged people to turn on smartphone notifications, pay attention to sirens, and only read official sources. A separate app for Kyiv continued to work normally.

The Daily Mail reports that Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communications blamed Russia for the hack.

How it is being reported

• Ukraine's air raid app 'is hacked': Kyiv and Lviv residents 'get fake alerts about radiation threats'The app for a short time showed Kyiv and other areas subject to a nuclear alert. But the abnormality later disappeared, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday night.Daily Mail · 1 Nov, 23:06
• Ukraine air raid app apparently hacked as users receive false radiation threat, Air Force saysAuthorities say there is no threat and have advised the public to follow official channels for information.BBC News · 1 Nov, 22:38

In this story: Ukraine · Kyiv · Lviv · Russian · Ukrainian Air Force · Ukrainian Central Intelligence Agency

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