Hacktivist Defaces Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Website

A hacktivist retaliated against Russia for “meddling in U.S. affairs,” according to a blog post.

CNN reported the Jester defaced a Russian Foreign Affairs website on Oct. 21 after being frustrated by the massive DDoS attack that crippled the internet that day.

“Things have been simmering on medium heat for a few years now,” the message said. “First the whole Wikileaks thing, then Snowden, after that all the politically motivated hacking, then you snuggled up with Trump and are openly and actively trying to influence another nations election. And now, now you or your proxy buddies are hammering the Dyn DNS provider with a YUGE DDoS attack, causing all manner of problems.”

A foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed the attack, saying “specialists are working on it.”

The Jester, reportedly a former soldier who fought in Afghanistan and currently works in the cybersecurity and intelligence field, made a name by hacking websites that he considers threatening to the U.S., and specifically soldiers. His targets in the past included jihadist websites, WikiLeaks, the Westboro Baptist Church and the hacking group LulzSec.

The attack exploited an XSS vulnerability and didn’t damage or breach the site, according to Jester’s blog.

“This was the cyber equivalent of driving by the Ruskie Embassy and flipping them the bird. You know like Mav & Goose so righteously did in Top Gun,” the post said.