Russian officers charged in cyber crimes
WASHINGTON — The United States onMonday unsealed criminal charges against six Russian intelligence officers in connection with some of the world’s most damaging cyberattacks, including disruption of Ukraine’s power grid and releasing a mock ransomware virus — NotPetya — that infected computers globally, causing billions of dollars in damage.
That group, authorities say, also hacked computers supporting the 2018Winter Olympics in South Korea, hacked and leaked emails of individuals involved in French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron’s campaign in 2017, and targeted the international and British organizations investigating the poisoning of a former Russian operative, Sergei Skripal, two years ago in Britain.
The alleged hackers are members of the same military intelligence agency — the GRU — previously charged in connection with efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. But the new indictment does not charge them with U.S. election interference, and officials said the announcement was not timed to the current political schedule.
Rather, they stand accused ofwhat Justice Department officials say is the single most disruptive and destructive series of cyberattacks ever attributed to one group.
“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,” Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in announcing the indictment.
Russian officials dismissed the development.
“The new allegations of cyber attacks aimed at interfering are another step to discredit Moscow,” Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State DumaCommittee on International Affairs, told the Interfax news agency. “Such statements have never been accompanied by strong evidence — it’s all in the category of ‘highly likely.’”
Though officials said Monday’s indictment was not a specific warning to Moscow to avoid interfering in this year’s election, they said it serves as a “general” warning that such activities are not deniable.
“Americans should be confident that a vote cast for their candidate will be counted for that candidate,” Demers said.