Turkish hackers break into Russian minister’s Instagram account

Nerdun Hacaoğlu – MOSCOW

A Turkish hacker team broke into a Russian minister’s Instagram account on Jan. 3, as the crisis over Turkey’s Nov. 24 downing of a Russian jet continued to spill online.

The Börteçine Cyber Team hackers claimed responsibility for the attack targeting Russian Communications and Mass Media Minister Nikolai Nikiforov’s Instagram account. The team replaced images shared by Nikiforov with the Turkish flag, a still of the downed Russian Su-24 jet, and a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. 

The account is still under the hackers’ control, and some Russians have joked on social media that it will continue to be so until the end of Russia’s official 10-day New Year holiday.

Turkey has experienced a series of cyberattacks claimed by hacking collective Anonymous since Dec. 14, targeting nearly 400,000 websites with the extension “.tr,” including the online services of a number of Turkish banks. The collective declared cyberwar against Turkey over allegations that Ankara gave support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).