Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Politics
posted by janrinok on Monday March 28 2022, @09:04PM   Printer-friendly

U.S. charges 4 Russian government workers with hacking energy sector:

The U.S. Justice Department fired another legal salvo against Russia on Thursday, announcing indictments against four Russian government employees for an alleged hacking campaign targeting the energy sector that lasted for years and targeted computers in 135 countries.

An indictment in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia charges that Evgeny Viktorovich Gladkikh, who worked at a Russian Ministry of Defense research institute, conspired with others to damage critical infrastructure outside the United States, causing emergency shutdowns at one foreign facility. Thosecharged in the indictment, under seal since June 2021, also allegedly tried to hack the computers of a U.S. firm that managed similar facilities in the United States.

A separate indictment filed in Kansas alleges that a hacking campaign launched by Russian's federal security service, or FSB, targeted computers at hundreds of energy-related entities around the world. That indictment was also filed under seal last summer.

The hacking activity took place between 2012 and 2018, U.S. officials said. The decision to reveal the indictments underscores the concern U.S. and European officials have about Russia unleashing a wave of cyberattacks on the West in response to a new wave of sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said there is an "urgent ongoing need for American businesses to harden their defenses and remain vigilant." She said Russian state-sponsored hackers "pose a serious and persistent threat to critical infrastructure both in the United States and around the world."


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 28 2022, @11:21PM (12 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 28 2022, @11:21PM (#1233073)

    It isn't stealing unless it's nailed down?

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +1  
       Interesting=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   1  
  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 28 2022, @11:25PM (10 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 28 2022, @11:25PM (#1233077) Homepage Journal

    If you lay all of your valuables along the curb, and leave them there, you're going to have a hard time convincing any judge that people stole your stuff. Especially on trash day.

    --
    Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2022, @12:33AM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2022, @12:33AM (#1233091)

      So if someone shoots you, it's all your fault for not having enough protection?

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday March 29 2022, @12:59AM (3 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 29 2022, @12:59AM (#1233101) Homepage Journal

        Bad things happen to people who aren't properly prepared to avoid those bad things. Have you noticed the situation Ukraine is in today? You lock your valuables up in your bedroom safe, or some such. You lock your door when you leave the house, if you don't always keep it locked. You lock your car and take the keys with you when you park the car. And, you disconnect critical infrastructure from the world wide web. To repeat myself, it is OUR fault that Russians can access our infrastructure. That doesn't make them good guys, they are still bad guys. But, it's OUR fault that our valuable possessions are strewn along the curb, waiting for someone to pick them up and take them home.

        Do you routinely leave briefcases full of money open in the park for the wind to blow the bills away?

        --
        Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
        • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 29 2022, @03:12PM

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 29 2022, @03:12PM (#1233246) Journal

          Bad things happen to people who aren't properly prepared to avoid those bad things.

          If a criminal attacks you, it is not the victim's fault. Whether or not the victim had adequate defenses or protection.

          Am I supposed to make sure my house is safe against an anti tank missile?

          it is OUR fault that Russians can access our infrastructure.

          I agree that we have not secured out infrastructure as well as we should.

          That does not make Russia any less to blame for an attack.

          Let me be clear: it is the attacker's (eg criminal's) fault regardless of the defense level of the victim.

          Do you routinely leave briefcases full of money open in the park for the wind to blow the bills away?

          I doubt this is a fair analogy to the state of insecurity that the Russians exploited.

          --
          While Republicans can get over Trump's sexual assaults, affairs, and vulgarity; they cannot get over Obama being black.
        • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday March 29 2022, @05:12PM (1 child)

          by DeathMonkey (1380) on Tuesday March 29 2022, @05:12PM (#1233271) Journal

          And if I kick your front door down it's your fault you didn't have a secure enough front door.
          And if you get a better front door but I use a battering ram it's your fault you didn't have a battering ram proof door.
          And if you get a better door but I pick the lock it's your fault for not having a better lock.
          And if you get a better lock but I come in through the window it's your fault for not having a better window...

          Or....we make breaking and entering illegal. Seems a lot simpler!

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday March 29 2022, @05:25PM

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 29 2022, @05:25PM (#1233276) Homepage Journal

            Or....we make breaking and entering illegal. Seems a lot simpler!

            A: We don't enforce the laws we already have very effectively.
            B: US courts don't have jurisdiction over Russian hackers.
            C: Russia is very unlikely to extradite Russian hackers to put them within US jurisdiction.

            How 'bout we stay here in reality, and understand that there are bad people in the world. You and I have some responsibility for protecting ourselves. Our government and our infrastructure providers have a responsibility to protect our assets, instead of whining and moaning that there are bad people trying to take advantage.

            --
            Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
    • (Score: 3, Touché) by Reziac on Tuesday March 29 2022, @02:31AM (3 children)

      by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday March 29 2022, @02:31AM (#1233123) Homepage

      Word was back when the mob ran Reno, you could literally do that, and come back to find your bags still there.

      I'm not sure what that says about our infrastructure, except... maybe we should be run by smarter mobsters. ;P

      --
      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday March 29 2022, @02:54AM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 29 2022, @02:54AM (#1233127) Homepage Journal

        That's worth a chuckle. Petty thieves rounded up, brought into a conference room surrounded by 15 guys with Tommy guns. Yeah, they understand clearly that the penalty for infringing on the Mob's territory is death.

        --
        Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday March 29 2022, @04:51PM (1 child)

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 29 2022, @04:51PM (#1233258) Journal

        I do not know about Reno. However that was true in Las Vegas prior to the 1980s.

        Now the city has gangs from California. Back in the day the mob would never have allowed that to happen. Makes the city less attractive for business.

        --
        While Republicans can get over Trump's sexual assaults, affairs, and vulgarity; they cannot get over Obama being black.
        • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday March 29 2022, @05:26PM

          by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday March 29 2022, @05:26PM (#1233277) Homepage

          Good example of better the devil you know.

          --
          And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2022, @10:18AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2022, @10:18AM (#1233174)

      non sequitur

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by khallow on Monday March 28 2022, @11:41PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 28 2022, @11:41PM (#1233082) Journal
    Properly nailed down really. I was able to use this backhoe to pry it loose, indicating slapdash effort which absolves me of wrongdoing. Clearly, they wanted me to have it.