Information security specialists have identified more than 30 closed chats and channels in Telegram, which are involved in false mining of schools, hospitals and other social facilities. Their administrators are most often teenagers, and most of them live in Russia, T.Hunter told Izvestia, which, at the request of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, participated in the identification of criminals.
A wave of false mining began in Russia, Belarus and some other countries in January 2022. On February 10, the FSB announced the arrest in Russia of 14 members of closed communities who were engaged in mass false mining. According to the security forces, the organizer and administrator of a network of such communities is an 18-year-old citizen of Ukraine Anton Osipchuk, a student at the Faculty of Information Security of the National Technical University of Ukraine.
At the same time, during the monitoring, T.Hunter specialists identified at least four more people who administer a significant part of such communities.
“Two of them are 14 years old. One lives in Belarus, the other in Russia, in Lyubertsy. The third one has most likely already been detained at the moment – he has not been active since January 21. The latter, also a teenager, lives in Russia. The youngest participant we found was only 10 years old. All information about these persons was transferred to law enforcement agencies,” said Igor Bederov, head of the information and analytical research department at T.Hunter.
Izvestia managed to talk to the administrator of one of these communities. He said that he lives in Latvia, studies in high school and personally sent out at least 50 messages about mining.
“I lost loved ones – there was a desire to do something bad. I felt bad – I wanted attention. Therefore, he went into it (sending false reports about mining. – Izvestia). They began to admire me – it became easier, ”he explained his motivation.
The interlocutor of Izvestia said that there are at least ten coordinators of the current wave of information terrorism in Telegram like him. They all communicate and support each other in a private chat. The active core of the community has about a hundred people. Experts estimate the total number of participants in such chats and channels at several thousand people.
Read more in the Izvestia investigation:
“Mine Initiative: Who and Why Terrorizes Russian Schools”
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
