CYBER GRIDLOCK: Hacker sends hundreds of Russian taxis to same Moscow road causing havoc
Updated: Sep 6, 2022
The Russian capital Moscow became bizarrely gridlocked due to hackers sending hundreds of taxis to the same road via its booking platform.
The incident involving Moscow’s distinctive yellow cabs is believed to be part of anti-Putin protests. A cheeky hacker made multiple taxi bookings via the Yandex platform to Kutuzovsky Prospekt in the Russian capital.
Yandex are a huge digital firm and operate the country’s biggest search engine above Google. The Yandex Taxi app operates in a similar way to other major ride-hail firms like Uber and Bolt.
In a statement Yandex Taxi said to Forbes: "On the morning of September 1, Yandex Taxi encountered an attempt by attackers to disrupt the service — several dozen drivers received bulk orders to the Fili region."
The technology giants added: "Drivers still spent about 40 minutes in traffic jams due to fake orders. The issue of compensation will be resolved in the near future."
