CNN had exclusive reporting on Monday that anti-Kremlin hacktivists successfully infiltrated the computer network of Russia’s prison system. The operation was conducted out of revenge for the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
According to CNN’s Sean Lyngaas and Darya Tarasova, the hack occurred not long after Navalny’s death in February. The hackers shared a screenshot of their message to the Russian government, which included a black and white photo of Navalny and his wife Yulia Navanlya behind a message in yellow text that read in part: “Long live Alexey Navalny!”
The hack wasn’t limited to just the message:
In a stunning breach of security, they also appear to have stolen a database containing information on hundreds of thousands of Russian prisoners and their relatives and contacts, including, the hackers claim, data held on prisoners in the Arctic penal colony where Navalny died on February 16.
The hackers, who say they are a mix of nationalities, including Russian expatriates and Ukrainians, are sharing that data, including phone numbers and email addresses of prisoners and their relatives “in the hope that somebody can contact them and help understand what happened to Navalny,” a hacker claiming to be involved in the breach told CNN.
In addition, the hackers used their access to the Russian prison system’s online commissary, where family members buy food for inmates, to change the prices of things like noodles and canned beef to one ruble, which is roughly $0.01, according to screenshots and videos of purchases from the online store posted by the hackers.
Normally, those goods cost over $1.
The hackers also ordered the network’s administrators not to remove the image of Navalny. When they did, the hackers “retaliated by destroying one of the administrators’ computer servers, the hacker claimed.”
President Joe Biden and several other world leaders place the blame for Navanly’s death on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Watch the video above via CNN.
