"Government-backed criminals" try to hack into Chetverta Vlada's email

Unknown persons tried to hack into the e-mail of investigative journalist agency Chetverta Vlada. The publication believes this has to do with their work.

The publication reported the attempted hacker attack on Facebook and posted a notification from the Google security. The notification says that "government-backed criminals attempted to steal your password."

Photo by Chetverta Vlada

"As cyber security experts told us, one of the 'hackers for a salary' tried to hack the editorial email. Apparently, someone is having income problems due to their shady procurement practices. We can even guess who," says Chetverta Vlada in their post.

Chetverta Vlada deputy editor-in-chief, Antonina Torbich, told IMI that break into the email was impossible. According to her, the inbox was protected by two factor security.

"It was not possible to break it. At the same time, when we saw this notification, we consulted with digital security specialists and once again took a number of steps to strengthen the protection of editorial emails," said Antonina.

She added that the editors unequivocally believe that this hacking attempt has to do with their journalistic work.

"We write a lot about high-ranking officials of various levels abusing their power. Last month, such reports covered: potential violations committed by the Rivne Council administration in the procurement of macaroni, potential violations by the Zdolbuniv City Council in the purchase of generators, violations by the regional Center for Social Services in the procurement of candy, and the Rivne Council and the prosecutor's office withholding information about the housing issued to prosecutors by the state and agreements with a developer," she noted.

As IMI reported, in January, unknown persons created a Facebook page for posting allegations against the online publication "Chetverta Vlada". The media considers it manipulation, lies, and gossip around the team's public reports, as well as revenge by a former state official.