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Top line
A Russian criminal group is likely responsible for a disruptive new cyberattack on the world’s largest meat processing company, the White House said on Tuesday, the latest in a series of hacks blamed on the Russian government or isolated criminals based in the country.
For years, the Russian government has been accused of carrying out brutal cyber attacks and giving … [+] refuge for criminal pirate gangs.
getty timeline
May 2021 Meat processor JBS revealed on Monday that its computer systems had been hacked, in what White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre called a ransomware attack, a strategy in which hackers demand payment probably perpetrated by Russian criminals.
May 2021 A group apparently linked to Russian intelligence services gained access to the United States Agency for International Development’s email system and attempted to send virus-laden phishing emails to hundreds of organizations linked to it. ‘USAID, Microsoft said Thursday.
May 2021 A pipeline carrying 45% of the east coast gasoline was shut down due to an attack blamed on the hack of the DarkSide collective, prompting Colonial Pipeline to pay a ransom of $ 4.4 million, but well that the perpetrators appear to be based in Russia, said President Joe Biden there is no evidence that the Russian government is connected.
October 2020 Russian government-sponsored hackers appeared to target multiple state and local government networks, successfully stealing data from two anonymous targets, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said.
July 2020 A group almost certainly linked to the Russian intelligence service has attempted to steal information from researchers about the Covid-19 vaccine in several countries, the US, UK and Canadian governments said in an advisory.
Against
The Russian government has consistently denied any involvement in recent hacking campaigns, telling Forbes in a December statement that the attacks went against the principles of Russian foreign policy, national interests, and our understanding of interstate relations. More recently, the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC called Russia’s claims to be behind the JBS hack without merit.
Key context
Even though some recent cyber attacks have been blamed on Russian criminal gangs rather than government actors, some cybersecurity experts and government officials believe Russian authorities are quietly tolerating these private hackers. Dr Susan Landau, professor of cybersecurity at Tufts Universitys School of Engineering and Fletcher School, believes Russian President Vladimir Putin likely allows hacker gangs to operate in his country and sometimes implicitly collaborates with them because it “ corresponds to his foreign policy objectives, and it costs him nothing. Cyber attacks on businesses can assert Russia’s power on a global scale and create insecurity in the United States, and the most recent hacks have been small enough to avoid serious retaliation from the United States. United States. Moreover, by outsourcing this activity to criminals, the Russian government obtains what Landau calls an implausible denial.
Crucial quote
I don’t think you manage to [carry out cyberattacks] in China or Russia without implied government permission, Landau said.
Tangent
For years, Russia has been accused of leading or supporting brutal hacking campaigns. Russia was linked to an infamous 2016 hack into the Democratic National Committees’ mail server, as part of an apparent larger effort to influence the results of the 2016 presidential election. And Russian intelligence operatives have was accused last year of orchestrating a massive cyber attack in 2017 that caused billions of dollars in damage to businesses around the world. While countries have been engaging in cyber espionage for years, Landau says Russia’s interest in sophisticated offensive attacks appears to have started in 2015, when Russian-linked hackers managed to shut down parts of the network. Ukrainian electric.
Surprising fact
Russia did not appear to target electoral systems last year, the U.S. intelligence community said in a March report, although the country has been accused of attempting to disseminate misleading information disparaging Biden and supporting the candidacy for the re-election of former President Donald Trump.
What to watch out for
Cyber attacks have caused friction between the US and Russian governments. The Biden administration imposed sanctions on several Russian tech companies in April after the SolarWinds hack, and the Justice Department last year charged Russian intelligence officers with a series of serious international cyberattacks. Despite this tension, Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Switzerland for a summit later this month.
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