Ukrainian air raid alert app sends false warnings after being hacked
The app has sent Ukrainians false warnings that some areas of the country face nuclear and chemical threats.
Ukraine and Russia have both reported that their public air raid alert apps have been hacked. The Ukrainian app issued false alerts warning of nuclear, chemical and street combat threats in certain regions of the country. Meanwhile, Russia's emergencies ministry mobile app suffered a major cyber attack. Ukraine's air force stated that the country's public air raid alert app had been compromised, showing false warnings of impending danger.
In response, Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communications accused Russia of causing the hack. The application is used to provide real-time warnings of air strikes from Russia, giving people only minutes to seek shelter during events like ballistic missile attacks. However, the Ukrainian Centre for Countering Disinformation stated that the information broadcast regarding threat levels was inaccurate.
The digital transformation ministry reported that the app was not functioning, but other alert systems were working, as were air raid sirens. It remains unclear if the two incidents were related. The Russian emergencies ministry claimed the app was intended to warn of incoming drone attacks and other threats, and they were working to restore the application.
Discussions between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the US, are set to resume this month after being suspended due to joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday that his nation would cease targeting Russian oil refineries, as requested by the US, if Washington supplied Kyiv with powerful Patriot interceptor missiles.
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