An American vigilante hacker defaced the Russian Foreign Affairs ministry’s website Friday night in an apparent revenge attack for a massive internet outage that hit the U.S. earlier that day.
Known as “the Jester,” the hacker gained control of the website and left a message warning Russia to stop its cyber attacks against the U.S.
“Comrades! We interrupt regular scheduled Russian Foreign Affairs Website programming to bring you the following important message,” said the Jester’s message, which was sprawled across the ministry homepage.
#Russia Govt Ministry of Foreign Affairs website hacked & defaced by American vigilante hacker in retaliation for attacks on US targets pic.twitter.com/fWtqJw34fo
— Silver Surfer (@RobPulseNews) October 23, 2016
“Firstly allow me to get the pleasantries out of the way,” he continued. “Nice to see you again Russia. Now see here, I would not want you to get all upset and throw your toys out of your stroller over this mild incursion, so think of this as a ‘professional courtesy’ or if you prefer message from ‘USA with love.’Or better yet, a message ‘from Russia with love’, because technically that that’s whjat it is with this being your official Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.”
The Jester accused Russia of being responsible for the various WikiLeaks dumps, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s leaks and trying influence U.S. elections through Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
The vigilante hacker added that he knows it is Russia behind the various hacks, regardless of what proxies the country tries to use.
“So knock it off. You may be able to push around nations around you, but this is America. Nobody is impressed,” warned the Jester. “You disappoint me. I hope this is the last time we have to have this conversation. Now get to your room. Before I lose my tempter. Or do you want to play a game?”
The Jester is well-known in the hacker sphere for his antics against U.S. enemies. Past victims include jihadi websites, WikiLeaks and the Westboro Baptist church.
Little is known about the Jester’s background, but he admitted he was once in the U.S. military, having served tours in Afghanistan and other theaters. It is unclear whether he currently has any connections to the U.S. government, although ex-FBI agents have described him as the “Batman of the Internet.”
It is currently unclear whether Russia was behind Friday’s cyber attack, which downed dozens of websites like Twitter, Reddit and Spotify, however, U.S. intelligence officials noted earlier this month that they are “confident” that Russia is in some way responsible for the various hacks of U.S. political figures and institutions.
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