To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Not now
OK
Advert
Advert
Advert

Hundreds of taxis sent to fake pick-up point as hackers gridlock Moscow

Daisy Phillipson

Published 
| Last updated 

Hundreds of taxis sent to fake pick-up point as hackers gridlock Moscow

Featured Image Credit: @visegrad24/Twitter

Moscow was gridlocked this week after hackers requested hundreds of taxis to the same pick-up point.

Video footage has been doing the rounds on social media showing huge rows of traffic as dozens of cabs try to make it past each other – not realising they'd all been sent to the same address.

According to Forbes.ru, the hackers had intercepted Yandex Taxi, Russia's answer to Uber, causing congestion on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, a major six-lane road that runs through the city.

Advert

The incident unfolded yesterday (1 September) and left drivers stuck for around 40 minutes.

In a statement to the publication, a spokesperson for Yandex.Go said: "On the morning of September 1, Yandex Taxi encountered an attempt by attackers to disrupt the service — several dozen drivers received bulk orders to the Fili region."

The firm said it is taking action to improve its algorithm to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future, but that hasn't stopped the online community from sharing the disruption.

Advert

While it's not known who's behind the attack, Anonymous has uploaded a number of posts on the prank including a Daily Star article that claimed the hacktivist group was responsible.

It later tweeted a screenshot of one of the images used in the article, writing: "We shared the above dailystar article because it has our current favorite 'evil anonymous hacker' image used by the press in a long time."

Anonymous also shared a clip of the traffic jam, simply writing 'LOL' as the caption.

Advert

Dozens of people have commented on the posts, with one writing, "I don’t want to laugh," alongside a laughing emoji.

"Well, someone had to drive Putin's big ass out of the Kremlin, right?" said another, while a third added, "Excellent, most excellent."

The hacking collective has heavily criticised Vladimir Putin’s invasion, announcing it was ‘officially in cyber war against the Russian government’ on the day the attack started.

Advert

Since then, the group has been involved in various hacking attacks in a bid to help spread information about what Russia describes as a ‘special military operation’. 

Back in April, it emerged that the group had leaked the personal data of 120,000 Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine, disclosing personal information such as names, date of birth, addresses, unit affiliation and passport numbers. 

Anonymous launched a 'cyber war' against Russia when it invaded Ukraine. Credit: @LatestAnonPress/Twitter
Anonymous launched a 'cyber war' against Russia when it invaded Ukraine. Credit: @LatestAnonPress/Twitter

In a tweet shared in the same month, it said: "The hacking will continue until Russia stops their aggression."

Advert

If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information

Topics: News, Technology, Cars, Russia, Ukraine, World News

Daisy Phillipson
More like this
Advert
Advert
Advert

Chosen for YouChosen for You

Celebrity

Nick Cannon reveals eye-watering amount he spends taking his 12 children to Disneyland every year

27 minutes ago

Most Read StoriesMost Read

Macaulay Culkin in tears as he reunites with his Home Alone mom Catherine O'Hara in sweet moment

4 hours ago