Russian Yandex taxi app hacked by Anonymous, traffic jam happened

The notorious Anonymous hacker collective has confirmed that the cyberattack on the Yandex Taxi app was carried out in cooperation with the IT Army of Ukraine.

After hacking the Yandex Taxi app, the unknown hackers created a massive traffic jam in Moscow, Russia. On Sept. 1, motorist complaints emerged after they witnessed an unusual accumulation of taxis in the Russian capital’s western area.

What happened was that the attackers ordered all available taxis to a particular address, and an unprecedented traffic jam ensued as dozens of Yandex drivers were stuck due to being in the exact location.

According to Forbes Russia, the cabs were directed to one of the main avenues in Moscow, Kutuzovsky Prospekt, which is widely known for the Stalinist-era building called Hotel Ukraina (Hotel Ukraine).

The traffic jam lasted three hours.

Yandex’s security team quickly addressed the standstill and promised to improve the algorithm to prevent such attacks in the future.

Recently, Russian media streaming platform ‘START’ (start.ru) confirmed a data breach impacting millions of users.