Hacktivist group Anonymous has apparently claimed a new victory in their cyberwar against Russia.
The collective says they have successfully hacked the Central Bank of Russia - and that they're threatening to release sensitive files.
Also known as the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the bank is responsible for protecting and ensuring the Russian ruble, which collapsed after the country invaded Ukraine last month.
Anonymous announced that they had breached the bank's security last night (March 23) in a tweet posted by one of their Twitter accounts, @YourAnonTV.
"JUST IN: The #Anonymous collective has hacked the Central Bank of Russia," read the tweet, which featured a graphic of the bank's logo, Russia's flag, and the hacking group's trademark smiling mask.
They went on to threaten that files containing "secret agreements" would be released, writing: "More than 35,000 files will be released within 48 hours with secret agreements. #OpRussia."
Anonymous's claim comes amid reports of turmoil within the bank, which was forced to double the key interest rate and impose capital controls that would stop the outflow of cash after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, according to a report by Bloomberg, the bank's governor Elvira Nabiullina tried to resign from her role after the invasion was launched and western sanctions devastated Russia's economy. President Putin allegedly refused to accept her resignation, forcing her to stay in the position.
Anonymous's attack on the Central Bank is just one of many cyber assaults they have launched against Russia in recent weeks, as part of a bid to defend Ukraine from an aggressive takeover.
Last week, the group tweeted that they had increased their attacks on Russian government websites. "#Anonymous launching unprecedented attacks on the websites of Russian gov't. Increasing their capacity at peak times from 500 GB earlier, it is now up to 1 TB. That is, two to three times more powerful than the most serious incidents," they wrote.
At the time of writing, there are less than 33 hours to go before Anonymous says they will release the files they stole from the Central Bank.
