Russian Hackers That "Attacked" Georgia Were Mostly a Volunteer "Cyberarmy"

As Russian Tanks Rolled, Army of Internet Hackers Hit Georgia’s Web Sites

Hacker attacks that accompanied the Russian military offensive in Georgia were not the work of the Russian government as Georgia claimed, but of a loose network that had previously targeted pornography and gambling sites, Internet experts say.

The first attack started just after 2 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Aug. 8 - more than 12 hours after Russian tanks rolled through the Roki tunnel into Georgia - according to the Shadowserver Foundation, a volunteer group that monitors hacker activity.

Within hours after fighting erupted, Russian hackers had established a site, StopGeorgia.ru, that showed a list of Georgian Web sites targeted and which sites had been brought down, and allowed visitors to download a simple program to enable their own computers to join the attack, said Kimberly Zenz, a Russia specialist with Internet threat intelligence outfit iDefense.

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