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posted by martyb on Friday October 05 2018, @06:35PM   Printer-friendly
from the why-do-they-call-it-"dope"? dept.

Justice Dept. announces charges against 7 Russian operatives for cyber attacks

Seven Russian military intelligence officers were charged with hacking anti-doping agencies and other organizations, the Justice Department announced at a press conference Thursday.

According to a Justice Department press release, a grand jury in Pennsylvania sent the indictment, which says that beginning around December 2014 and up through May 2018, the operatives conducted sophisticated computer hacking operations that affected people in the U.S., corporations, international organizations and their employees around the world, "based on their strategic interest to the Russian government."

According to Eric Welling, Deputy Assistant Director for the FBI's Cyber Division, these GRU hackers operated under the name "Fancy Bear Hacking Team," the same group of Russian government-backed hackers that was the focus of Special Counsel Robert Muller's indictment of GRU hackers early this summer. Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division, John Demers, said that these hackers were caught "red-handed" in a "conspiracy to hack a variety of individuals and organizations in the United States, Canada and Europe" with the goal of distorting the public's perception of truth.

International anti-doping organizations and officials were targeted by the Russian operatives after they exposed and condemned Russia's athletic doping program. According to Justice Department officials, the operatives tried to publicize information they had stolen in order to undermine and delegitimize the anti-doping organizations.

Update: Russia cyber-plots: Dutch defend decision not to arrest suspects

The Dutch government has defended a decision not to detain four Russians accused of an attempted cyber-attack on the global chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague. The suspected Russian agents were sent home as it was not a criminal inquiry, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

The US and UK have joined the Netherlands in blaming Russian spies for a series of cyber-plots worldwide. Russia has complained of a "stage-managed propaganda campaign".

Also at the BBC.

Previously: Sports Doping Agency WADA Says Hackers Lifted Olympic Athletes' Medical Records

Related: Former Russian Anti-Doping Boss Dies Suddenly
Betteridge Asks: Will Russian Doping Scandal Lead to Reform of the Olympics?


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  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday October 05 2018, @09:20PM (1 child)

    by Gaaark (41) on Friday October 05 2018, @09:20PM (#744804) Journal

    Cause we need to convince people they have Drugs of Mass Destruction and we need to invade Russia.

    Or something.

    Yeah, i'm as lost as you.

    --
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 05 2018, @09:48PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 05 2018, @09:48PM (#744808)

    That invasion will cost more than you can gain (with a chance of nuclear rain), which makes it unlikely.