Researchers: Russia hacked Burisma
WASHINGTON – A computer security company reported Monday that Russian hackers sought access to the Ukrainian gas company at the heart of the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, and House Democrats warned the meddling threatened to interfere with the 2020 election.
Area 1 Security, a California company focused on email security, reported that members of Russian military intelligence known as GRU launched a campaign in early November to steal email credentials from workers at Burisma Holdings.
Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, previously served on Burisma’s board. Trump’s call for Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and Burisma led to the president’s impeachment.
FBI Director Christopher Wray and others have said there is no evidence that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election. Other officials, such as Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council official, testified in the impeachment inquiry that accusations against Ukraine are Russian propaganda to divert attention from their own election interference.
Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Biden’s 2020 campaign, said the Burisma hacking illustrated that Russia seeks to meddle in the campaign to help Trump.
“Donald Trump tried to coerce Ukraine into lying about Joe Biden and a major bipartisan, international anticorruption victory because he recognized that he can’t beat the vice president,” Bates said. “Now we know that Vladimir Putin also sees Joe Biden as a threat. Any American president who had not repeatedly encouraged foreign interventions of this kind would immediately condemn this attack on the sovereignty of our elections.”
The cyberattack against Burisma involved phishing, an effort in which hackers mimic legitimate organizations in order to trick targets into divulging email passwords and other information. It wasn’t clear what information the phishing campaign sought, according to Area 1’s eight-page report.
“The phishing campaign identified is designed to steal email credentials (usernames and passwords) of employees at Burisma Holdings and its subsidiaries and partners,” the report said.
The apparent cyberattack worried House Democratic chairmen because the U.S. intelligence community concluded that Russians interfered with the 2016 election by hacking into Democratic Party computers and by circulating false information on social media. Special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian agents of GRU on charges of computer crimes and identity theft.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., told reporters the Burisma hack was evidence Russians were trying to help Trump again.
“We know that the Russians wanted Donald Trump elected last time and they actively supported him,” Nadler said. “We know the president tried to get foreign help, tried to extort foreign help for the next election campaign. And it looks like the Russians are trying to open up again.”
The House impeached Trump on articles accusing him of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Trump is accused of urging Ukraine to investigate his political rival while withholding $391million in military aid from the country, and then defying congressional subpoenas during the inquiry.