US says it disrupted Russian efforts to hack government agencies

investing.com 03/10/2024 - 17:25 PM

U.S. Seizes 41 Domains Used by Russian Hackers

(Reuters) – The United States has seized 41 internet domains used by Russian intelligence agents and their proxies to hack into government agencies, including the Pentagon and State Department, as stated by the Justice Department on Thursday.

The department revealed it acted in coordination with Microsoft to dismantle 66 internet domains employed by the same groups. The seized domains were linked to hackers associated with a unit of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco remarked, “The Russian government ran this scheme to steal Americans’ sensitive information, using seemingly legitimate email accounts to trick victims into revealing account credentials.”

The hackers utilized these domains in a spear-phishing campaign targeting data from U.S. companies, former intelligence community employees, and personnel from the Department of Defense, State Department, U.S. military defense contractors, and the Department of Energy.

The seized domains were affiliated with the Callisto Group and its partners, identified by the DOJ as a unit within the FSB. This group, also known as Cold River or Star Blizzard, first came to prominence in 2016 after targeting Britain’s foreign office.

The Russian embassy did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment.

In December 2023, the DOJ announced charges against two hackers associated with Cold River for orchestrating a hacking campaign against computer networks in the U.S., UK, other NATO members, and Ukraine.




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