Is Anonymous Sudan a Russian hacker front posing as Islamist group?

Hacker group Anonymous Sudan, which is believed to be an Islamist hacker collective, may actually be a Russian group that operates in the interests of the Russian government, cybersecurity experts told Bloomberg last month.

In the past, the group has launched numerous, advanced cyber-attacks against companies in Israel and other countries including The Jerusalem Post.

Anonymous Sudan claims that its goal is to stage cyber attacks from Africa against other countries in defense of oppressed Muslims around the globe.

Experts in cybersecurity, however, Bloomberg reports, are suggesting the group is not what it claims to be. Instead, the experts suggest, the hacktivist group is actually based in Russia and operates in the interests of the Russian government.

The hacker collective targets Israel

Of the targets Anonymous Sudan has chosen, Israel features prominently. In early April, the group stated that it was going after Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., an Israeli cybersecurity firm.

The next day, the hacker group again threatened Israel, reportedly stating that it would “greatly intensify” its attacks on the Jewish state due to violence between Israeli police and Palestinian rioters on the Temple Mount.

Bloomberg cites Check Point’s chief of staff, Gil Messing who reportedly noted that the hacker group had launched hundreds of cyber-attacks against numerous Israeli targets including news organizations, government, and military as well universities, banks, and communication and tech companies.

The hacker group also reportedly targeted electronic warning systems designed to give Israelis notice regarding incoming rocket attacks as rockets were being shot toward Israel.

Reasons to suspect the hacker group is a Russian front

The Bloomberg report listed several reasons why experts believe that Anonymous Sudan could actually be working for the Kremlin.

For instance, according to the report, cyber-attacks from the hacktivist group against Israel increased after news broke that Israel had sent Ukraine military equipment including advanced radar systems.

Additionally, Bloomberg reports that the hacker collective’s attacks, such as those against Israel, have been particularly potent and advanced, more so than previous cyber-assaults encountered by the Jewish state.

In fact, Bloomberg notes that cyber-attacks from the group have correlated with “geopolitical flare-ups” in countries opposed to Russia.

Furthermore, Anonymous Sudan has spoken out in support of the Russian government. 

“The Russian army must defeat this rebellion,” the group wrote on Telegram during the brief Wagner mutiny.

“Anonymous Sudan is a Russian information operation that aims to use its Islamic credentials to be an advocate for closer cooperation between Russia and the Islamic world,” Mattias Wåhlén, Stockholm-based threat intelligence expert, told Bloomberg. “[The hacktivist group is] always claiming that Russia is the Muslims’ friend.”

Wåhlén also told Bloomberg that Anonymous Sudan has doggedly pursued emphasizing the message that the West and Islam are enemies while Russia is Islam’s friend.

Anonymous Sudan repeatedly denied the claims that it is a Russian group.