Cyber Awareness
Ukraine Air Raid App Hacked, Users Receive False Radiation Alerts
By Today News Hours Editorial Desk
The Ukrainian Air Force said the country’s air‑raid alert app was apparently hacked on Sunday, briefly announcing a radiation threat in Kyiv. A Telegram message from the Air Force read: “The Air Alarm application has probably been subjected to hostile interference. There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel.” The Ukrainian Central Intelligence Agency also posted on Telegram that the app had failed and urged people to use other sources for air‑strike information. The false alerts began at about 22:47 local time (20:47 GMT). The first message, in Ukrainian, declared a radiation threat in Kyiv. A second alert in Russian at 22:48 warned of a nuclear alert across Ukraine, claiming “Oreshnik flying.” A third Ukrainian alert at 22:49 warned of a chemical attack on Kyiv, and a fourth at the same time warned of street fighting in the city. Each threat was later followed by an all‑clear message linked to the previous alert. The Central Intelligence Agency added that the radiation warning was also played on loudspeakers in the Lviv region, and confirmed there was no radiation threat. It advised the public to enable smartphone notifications, heed sirens, and consult only official sources. Vinnytsia oblast governor Natalya Zabolotna warned on Telegram that the Air Alert app had been targeted by a cyberattack and cautioned users not to click on links in the message. The Air Alert app, supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, provides instant notifications of the start and end of defence alerts.