Cyber Anakin

Career

Cyber Anakin, operating under the handle cyberanakinvader, is a hacktivist whose documented activity spans from 2016 onward. The individual has described a range of politically motivated operations, typically timed in response to specific geopolitical events or perceived injustices.

In 2016, while still a teenager, Cyber Anakin began targeting Russian websites and databases, citing retaliation for the shooting-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Among the targets were the Russian news site and email provider km.ru and the gaming company Nival Networks. The breaches exposed data on approximately 1.5 million individuals, including dates of birth, encrypted passwords, and geographic locations. Data obtained from the km.ru breach was subsequently used by the Latvian independent news outlet Meduza to help establish the identity of a man who had been sexually harassing female chess players by sending them letters containing used condoms and pages from pornographic magazines.

In April 2018, Cyber Anakin identified an error on a North Korean propaganda website that linked to a non-existent Twitter account. Describing the action as an "April Fools prank," he registered a spoof account under the unused username and used it to post anti-DPRK messages, including unflattering images and obscene slurs directed at Kim Jong-un.

In June 2018, Cyber Anakin exploited a security flaw in internet-connected set-top boxes to temporarily deface a small number of television sets with messages opposing Article 13 of the European Union's Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. In an interview with ZDNet, he stated concerns that the proposed content filter would "let things which shouldn't to pass through and block those that should be allowed."

Following the shooting-down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 in January 2020, Cyber Anakin claimed responsibility for defacing the website of the Khuzestan Water and Power Authority, placing the names of Flight 752's victims on its webpage.