WITH Russia and Ukraine seemingly on the brink of war, it’s all hands on deck for President Vladimir Putin’s forces – including his army of hackers.
Over the years, Moscow has faced numerous allegations of cyberattacks that resulted in multiple sanctions and the expulsion of its diplomats.
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The term “hacker” has almost become synonymous with Russia.
From “troll factories” to hackers allegedly controlled by the country’s security services, here is an overview of the world of Russian cybercrime.
SKILLS
Russia has for decades been a breeding ground for computer experts.
During Soviet times, the government pushed for advances in science and technology, and – with the appearance of the first computers – in programming.
With the fall of the USSR in 1991, some of the talented but underpaid programmers turned to cybercrime, soon making Russians notorious for credit card thefts around the world.
“In the 90s, the environment fermented, with a culture of resourcefulness and a tendency to circumvent the rules,” said Kevin Limonier, of the French Institute of Geopolitics.
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ARMY AND SECURITY SERVICES
Experts say that in its persisting stand-off with the West, Russia heavily relies on its cyber and information warfare capabilities.
Several notorious hacking groups are suspected of working for the country’s security services, and the Russian defence ministry established its own “cyber units” in 2012.
The first large-scale attack attributed to Russia goes back to 2007, when the Baltic state of Estonia faced a wave of cyberattacks on its newspapers, banks and government ministries.
The United States says that hackers of Russia’s military intelligence (GRU) sought to manipulate the 2016 presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
The most famous cyberespionage group involved in dozens of cases is known as Fancy Bear or APT28. It is believed to be sponsored by the Russian government.
According to Washington, the attack targeting US software developer SolarWinds was carried out by the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service.
The attack compromised government agencies such as the FBI and hundreds of private companies.
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UKRAINE ATTACKS
More recently, attacks have focussed on Ukraine and its NATO allies in an attempt to destabilise the region.
More than 140,000 soldiers are currently stationed on Ukraine’s eastern and southern borders ahead of a possible invasion that intelligence officials believe could launch as early as this week.
Putin’s intentions remain unclear but he’s been heavily critical of Ukraine’s plans to join NATO.
Last month, hackers believed to be working for Russia targeted the websites of Ukrainian government agencies and banks.
The suggestion was that cyber sleuths were probing the systems in preparation for widescale shutdowns of key infrastructure in the event of an invasion.
Kyiv alleged that Moscow is engaged in an increasing “hybrid war” against it.
“All evidence indicates that Russia is behind the cyberattack,” the Ministry of Digital Development said.
Attackers are also expected to target NATO members.
Britain, for instance, has been told to brace for a massive cyber onslaught in the run up to possible war in Ukraine.
The National Cyber Security Council issued a rare national alert after a spate of malicious cyber-attacks had the hallmarks of Kremlin-backed hackers.
INFORMATION AND SABOTAGE
“Cyberattacks carried out by Russian secret services are part of multi-year international operations that are aimed at obtaining strategic information,” German intelligence said in 2016, referring to espionage and sabotage operations.
The list of alleged Russian attacks is long: a hacking attack on the German parliament in 2015; targeting Ukrainian artillery units between 2014 and 2016; hacking of a French television network in 2015; meddling in US elections in 2016 and 2020, and targeting coronavirus vaccine research institutes in the West in 2020.
Experts say that attacks are becoming ever more sophisticated.
“The level of Russian cyberattacks is growing compared to three or four years ago,” said intelligence expert Andrei Soldatov.
“We know about the operations that have been uncovered but a lot still remains effective.”
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DISINFORMATION
Russia has also been accused of carrying out large-scale disinformation campaigns in order to sway democratic processes in the West and fuel social discord online.
The country is believed to be operating online “troll factories” that concoct fake viral information in an attempt to influence internet users.
The accusations have been directed against both state media including RT (former Russia Today) and Kremlin allies such as Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman suspected of being at the origins of “troll factories” in Russia and Africa.
Washington has accused the ally of President Vladimir Putin of financing the Internet Research Agency, a Saint Petersburg-based company that sought to influence the US electorate in 2016.
DENIAL
Aware that the nature of cyberattacks makes their origins difficult to trace, the Kremlin has always denied any involvement and accused the West of waging a disinformation war on Russia.
Russia has also repeatedly pledged its desire to cooperate in the cyber sphere.
In the run-up to the 2020 US presidential elections, Putin proposed a pact of electoral non-interference and a global agreement against the misuse of communication technologies.
The proposal was left without response.
Soldatov said that Russia might be using hacking attacks to force the West to cooperate.
He did not rule out that, faced with the Russian threat and for want of a better alternative, “police in Europe and the United States might like to return to cooperating with Russia on cybersecurity”.
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In other news, a British woman has told of her horror after scammers used photos of a “silver fox” politician to trick her out of £80,000.
Norfolk County Council is suing Apple over what it says was misleading information about iPhone sales.
The creators of a chilling new horror game say that the title is so disturbing they’ve been forced to censor it on PlayStation.
And, Apple has announced updates to AirTags following claims that the coin-sized tracking devices are being used to stalk people.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
