Support The Moscow Times!

Hackers Crack Russia's Official Tender Site, Offer 'Control of Russia' to Highest Bidder

Davide Restivo/ Flickr

An unusual tender was announced on Russia's official public procurement site Thursday morning.

In what turned out to be the handiwork of hackers, an entity identified as the “administration of Mikhaylovskoye municipality” put a property management contract up for bid that would allow the winner to “rule the [Russian] state and turn a profit” from doing so.

The property was described as “the whole of the Russian Federation, including Crimea and Sevastopol, a population of 146 million, lots of oil, gas, forests, land and whatnot.”

The starting bid was set at $1 trillion.

The tender description also stated that the object came burdened with “a few million officials who also believe they have the right to turn a profit from the Russian Federation.”

A document attached to the page of the bid stated the website had been hacked by a group identified as the Ural Cyber Partisans.

"Selling government positions via tender is much more honest then conducting elections with predictable results," the hackers declared in the statement.

By the time of publication, the bid remained available on the government website.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more