US Charges 6 Alleged Russian Military Hackers Over 'Most Destructive Cyberattack Ever'

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2020) The United States charged six alleged Russian military intelligence officers with the most destructive and costly cyber attack ever, claiming that they targeted elections in France, the Olympics in South Korea, Ukraine's power grid and American medical facilities.

According to the indictment, unveiled on Monday, days after it was returned by a Federal grand jury in Pittsburgh, the suspects used "the world's most destructive malware to date," including NotPetya, which wreaked havoc globally and caused nearly $1 billion in losses only to victims identified during the probe.

"No country has weaponized its cyber capabilities as maliciously and irresponsibly as Russia, wantonly causing unprecedented collateral damage to pursue small tactical advantages and to satisfy fits of spite. The defendants in this case were all members of Military Unit 74455 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate, an intelligence agency known as the GRU," Assistant Attorney General For National Security John Demers said during a press conference.

He said the same unit members were previously charged for their role in suspected efforts to interfere in the 2016 US elections and emphasized that the new indictment makes no reference to an ongoing presidential campaign.

US authorities alleged that in December of 2015 and 2016, the conspirators launched destructive malware attacks against the electric power grid in Ukraine.

"These attacks turned out the lights and turned off the heat in the middle of the Eastern European winter, as the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men, women and children went dark and cold," Demers said.

Targeting Ukraine, hackers in June 2017 allegedly unleashed the "NotPetya" malware, which, according to the investigation, quickly spread around the world, "shutting down companies and inflicting immense financial harm."

"This irresponsible conduct impaired the ability of companies in critical sectors, such as transportation and health, to provide services to the public-not only in Ukraine, but as far away as Western Pennsylvania. As alleged, for just three US-related victims - three of at least hundreds of victims - monetary losses reached nearly one billion Dollars," Demers said.

Among malware victims in the United States were hospitals in the Heritage Valley Health System in the Western District of Pennsylvania and a large pharmaceutical manufacturer.

US authorities claimed that the suspects also tried to undermine the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, including by hacking its official website, because they felt "the embarrassment of international penalties related to Russia's state-sponsored doping program."

"Their cyber attack combined the emotional maturity of a petulant child with the resources of a nation state," Demers said.

Other attacks attributed to the Russian military hackers included "hack-and-leak efforts" against elections in France, as well as attempts to compromise Georgian parliament network and a major media company in the post-Soviet Republic. The group also conducted "spearphishing campaigns" against investigations by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Kingdom's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory into the Novichok nerve agent poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, according to the indictment.

The defendants are all charged in seven counts: conspiracy to conduct computer fraud and abuse, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, damaging protected computers, and aggravated identity theft.

Demers said that the investigation was carried out together with law enforcement or intelligence partners in Ukraine, Georgia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. He also thanked Cisco, Facebook, Google, and Twitter for their assistance.

Demers also dismissed Russia's recent proposal to "reset" its cooperation with the US over cybersecurity issues "as nothing more than dishonest rhetoric, cynical and cheap propaganda."

A source at the Russian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Monday that the accusations are groundless, aim to create anti-Russian sentiments, and are addressed to the internal audience within the context of the upcoming presidential election in the United States.