U.S. charges 4 Russian government officials over two prior hacking campaigns

U.S. charges 4 Russian government officials over two prior hacking campaigns


U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice, in advance of the one year anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022.

Carolyn Kaster | Pool | Reuters

The U.S. unveiled criminal charges against four Russian government officials on Thursday, saying that between 2012 and 2018 they engaged in two major hacking campaigns that targeted the global energy sector and impacted thousands of computers across 135 countries.

In one now-unsealed indictment from June 2021, the Justice Department accused Evgeny Viktorovich Gladkikh, a Russian Ministry of Defense research institute employee, of conspiring with others between May and September 2017 to hack the systems of a foreign refinery and install malware known as “Triton” on a safety system produced by Schneider Electric.

In a second unsealed indictment from August 2021, the Justice Department said three other alleged hackers from Russia’s Federal Security Service carried out cyber attacks on the computer networks of oil and gas firms, nuclear power plants, and utility and power transmission companies across the world.

The three accused Russians in that case are Pavel Aleksandrovich Akulov, 36, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gavrilov, 42, and Marat Valeryevich Tyukov, 39.

The 2017 attack stunned the cybersecurity community when it was made public by researchers later that year because – unlike typical digital intrusions aimed at stealing data or holding it for ransom – it appeared aimed at causing physical damage to the facility itself by disabling its safety system.

An FBI official told reporters on Thursday that these cases underscore the continued threat posed by Russian cyber operations and urged companies to “lock their cyber doors.”

Among the victim companies that assisted with the Justice Department’s investigation are Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation and the Kansas Electric Power Cooperative, the department said.



Source

CNBC’s The China Connection newsletter: China’s K-visa plans spark worries of a talent flood
World

CNBC’s The China Connection newsletter: China’s K-visa plans spark worries of a talent flood

This report is from this week’s CNBC’s The China Connection newsletter, which brings you insights and analysis on what’s driving the world’s second-largest economy. You can subscribe here. The big story Immigration anxieties and a challenging job market have sparked an online backlash over China’s latest attempt at attracting global talent — a new visa program […]

Read More
India holds rates steady at 5.5% in line with forecast as central bank assesses earlier cuts
World

India holds rates steady at 5.5% in line with forecast as central bank assesses earlier cuts

India’s central bank kept its policy rate unchanged at 5.5% Wednesday, in line with the expectations of economists polled by Reuters, as it assessed the impact of earlier cuts. Inflation moderated significantly in the first quarter, but growth could decelerate in the second half of the financial year due to global trade uncertainties, said Sanjay […]

Read More
CNBC’s UK Exchange newsletter: AstraZeneca gets a shot on Wall Street
World

CNBC’s UK Exchange newsletter: AstraZeneca gets a shot on Wall Street

This report is from this week’s CNBC’s UK Exchange newsletter. Like what you see? You can subscribe here. The dispatch There is an old British saying about buses: you wait ages for one and then two arrive at once. Pharmaceuticals analysts experienced something similar on Monday as the big two U.K. drugmakers — GSK and AstraZeneca — […]

Read More