Russian space research site hacked, mission files leaked

New Delhi: Russian authorities faced unexpected attack from a more vicious source over which often little defence could be put up - it is the cyber hackers.

Reports say of cyber criminals linked to hacking group Anonymous sneaking into Russia's Space Research Institute (IKI), leaking out files reportedly belonging to the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

In a tweet, Anonymous said: "Russian Space Agency hacked via v0g3lSec (http://uv.ikiweb.ru) still hacked as of this posting (archived)", IANS reported.

Another message from the group read "Heyyy Russian (homophobic slur).. Sorry.. Cosmonauts ??.. idk what to say, go get a nice website instead of threatening people with ISS, heard??"

ISS mentioned in the message refers to International Space Station after Russian authorities' recent comment about pulling out the station from operation.

Another message asked Russia to leave Ukraine alone. IKI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The reports of cyber criminals hacking Roscosmos came after another group linked to Anonymous claimed of having disabled Russian satellite control systems.

Nearly confirming the cyber-attack, the chief of Russia's space agency earlier said that hackers attempting to disrupt the country's satellite operations.

Rogozin's comment came shortly after a cyberattack on Russia's RKA Mission Control Center, the report said.

Earlier, several Telegram groups claimed that the NB65 hacker group, which is allegedly linked to Anonymous, had successfully breached Roscosmos' communications with Russia's satellites, RT reported.