Why they had to get so close

RUSSIAN hackers had to get within yards of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons headquarters in the Hague to try to hack in to it.

They chose a “close access” attack because they feared trying to approach their target remotely could have left a trail and blown their cover.

The Russian unit connected a computer to a smartphone and a WiFi panel antenna in the boot of their rented Citroen C3 outside the OPCW watchdog’s HQ then hunted for unsecured devices.

The equipment, some brought in from Russia , some obtained in Europe, was intended to intercept staff log-in details.

In attacking the OPCW they aimed to tamper with or steal evidence in investigations into the Skripal attack in Salisbury and chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The spies later desperately tried to destroy phones and equipment which held key evidence on their activities.

The hackers involved were a group known in the Russian military as Unit 26165.

The UK Government said yesterday that the unit “has sent officers around the world to conduct brazen close access cyber operations”.

Unit 26165 has been linked to a bid to hack into a World Anti-Doping Agency conference in Switzerland, the Foreign Office in London and the investigation into the shooting down of Flight MH17.