Twelve Russian intelligence operatives have been officially charged by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) with hacking the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for the explicit purpose of interfering with the 2016 presidential election.
The indictment marks the first time that the Russian government has been formally accused of playing a role in the hack on the DNC in 2016, and comes just before a major summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
The indicted individuals are all Russian military officers of various ranks, and work for cyber divisions within GRU, the Russian Ferderation's main foreign intelligence agency. The Russian government has denied all involvement, stating that there is no evidence to link the men to the hacks or to GRU itself.
Trump himself has similarly shrugged off the news, stating that the hacks took place under Obama's leadership, and asking why Obama hadn't "done anything about it".
Obama ejected 35 Russian diplomats from the US and closed two Russian embassies in December 2016.
A number of interesting findings have come to light as a result of the indictment, including that 'Guccifer 2.0' - a hacker pseudonym that fed huge amounts of stolen emails and documents to WikiLeaks - was allegedly a persona used by multiple Russian intelligence officers to try and throw investigators off the scent. The Guccifer persona was also approached by a US congressional candidate looking to obtain dirt on their opponent, and was also confirmed to have corresponded with "a person who was in regular contact with senior members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump".
What practical impact this will have on the accused hackers is unknown. Because the US has no extradition treaty with Russia, Putin is under no obligation to hand them over to US authorities, although law enforcement in other countries will be on the lookout for them.
The news is the latest action linking Russia to US election tampering, part of a wide-ranging series of efforts including a concerted push to spread disinformation via social media - something being investigated in both the UK and US. Twitter recently revealed that Russian bots shared Trump's tweets 500,000 times in the run up to the election.
-
What does modern security success look like for financial services?Sponsored As financial institutions grapple with evolving cyber threats, intensifying regulations, and the limitations of ageing IT infrastructure, the need for a resilient and forward-thinking security strategy has never been greater
-
Yes, legal AI. But what can you actually do with it? Let’s take a look…Sponsored Legal AI is a knowledge multiplier that can accelerate research, sharpen insights, and organize information, provided legal teams have confidence in its transparent and auditable application
-
Foreign states ramp up cyberattacks on EU with AI-driven phishing and DDoS campaignsNews ENISA warns of hacktivism, especially through DDoS attacks
-
A new 'top-tier' Chinese espionage group is stealing sensitive datanews Phantom Taurus has been operating for two years and uses custom-built malware to maintain long-term access to critical targets
-
Cisco ASA customers urged to take immediate action as NCSC, CISA issue critical vulnerability warningsNews Cisco customers are urged to upgrade and secure systems immediately
-
Cyber teams are struggling to keep up with a torrent of security alertsNews Fragmented identity security processes are creating blind spots, and the proliferation of tools doesn't help
-
‘All US forces must now assume their networks are compromised’ after Salt Typhoon breachNews The announcement marks the second major Salt Typhoon incident in the space of two years
-
‘States don’t do hacking for fun’: NCSC expert urges businesses to follow geopolitics as defensive strategyNews Paul Chichester, director of operations at the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, urged businesses to keep closer tabs on geopolitical events to gauge potential cyber threats.
-
Edge devices are now your weakest link: VPNs, firewalls, and routers were the leading source of initial compromise in 30% of incidents last year – here’s whyNews Compromised network edge devices have rapidly emerged as one of the biggest attack points for small and medium businesses.
-
Billions of IoT devices will need to be secured in the next four years – zero trust could be the key to success
News Researchers have warned more than 28 billion IoT devices will need to be secured by 2028 as attacks on connected devices surge.
