WasteRussianTime.today
Type of site | Automated prank calling |
|---|---|
| Website | https://wasterussiantime.today/ |
| Launched | May 18, 2022 |
WasteRussianTime.today is a robocalling and prank calling website intended to disrupt Russian government officials in response to the Russo-Ukrainian War.[1]
Creation[edit]
WasteRussianTime.today[1]
WasteRussianTime.today was created by an international group of hacktivists under the name "Obfuscated Dreams of Scheherazade";[1] individual members of the group have spoken to the press using only pseudonyms.[2] According to the group, roughly 24 hours after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, they began brainstorming and quickly arrived at the idea of creating a website that would connect the user to a Russian citizen to speak with them about the war; difficulties with this idea led them to instead develop the concept of WasteRussianTime.today.[1]
The website was launched on May 18, 2022.[3]
Function[edit]
WasteRussianTime.today uses a list of the phone numbers of over 5,000 Russian government officials, assembled from various leaks and other publicly available sources. When the user clicks a button, the website initiates a Voice over IP call to 40 of those phone numbers; once two of the recipients answer, it moves them and the user into a three-way group call with the user muted.[1]
The government officials targeted by the website include members of the Military Police, the Duma, and the Federal Security Service.[1] The website claims to be making 3,000 calls at any given time, and states that automated calls are made when users are not active on the site.[3]
Reception[edit]
While noting some technical issues with the website, Wired described it as "a very small and slightly absurd blow against the Russian government's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine". The magazine quoted Bellingcat researcher Christo Grozev as saying that, while the website would likely harm journalistic investigations by prompting many Russian officials to change their phone numbers, he felt it was "a great psychological operation [...] just more of a radio morning show prank, rather than a journalistic operation".[1]
Shortly after its release, the website became inaccessible after being accessed by too many users at a time.[4]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Greenberg, Andy (May 18, 2022). "This Hacktivist Site Lets You Prank Call Russian Officials". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
- ↑ Häntzschel, Jörg (May 18, 2022). "Ukraine-Krieg: Subversive Aktion gegen Putin". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2022-05-21.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Barr, Kyle (May 18, 2022). "New Site Allows Users to Crank Call Russian Bureaucrats to Protest War in Ukraine". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
- ↑ "Хакеры запустили сайт, чтобы действовать на нервы чиновникам РФ: как он работает" [Hackers launched a website to get on the nerves of Russian officials: how it works]. ФОКУС (in русский). 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
External links[edit]
- WasteRussianTime.today
- WasteRussianTime.today on TwitterLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 23: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Audio from a call placed through WasteRussianTime.today in The Independent
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