Ukrainian radio operator TAVR Media on Thursday became the latest victim of a cyberattack, resulting in the broadcast of a fake message that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was seriously ill.
“Cybercriminals spread information that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is allegedly in intensive care, and his duties are performed by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk,” the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP) said in an update.
The Kyiv-based holding company oversees nine major radio stations, including Hit FM, Radio ROKS, KISS FM, Radio RELAX, Melody FM, Nashe Radio, Radio JAZZ, Classic Radio, and Radio Bayraktar.
In a separate post on Facebook, TAVR Media disclosed its servers and networks were targeted in a cyberattack and it’s working to resolve the issue. The company also emphasized that “no information about the health problems of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy is true.”
The false reports, which were broadcasted between 12 and 2 p.m., also prompted Zelenskyy to take to Instagram, stating, “I have never felt as healthy as I do now.”
The provenance of the intrusion remains unknown as yet, although several threat actors have capitalized on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine to carry out a barrage of cyberattacks, with hacking groups taking sides.
In a related development, the Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) also warned of macro-laden PowerPoint documents being used to deploy Agent Tesla malware targeting state organizations of the country.