On Thursday, the Department of Justice announced it had unsealed an indictment alleging six Russian nationals with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and wire fraud conspiracy. Five of the defendants were officers in Unit 29155 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), a military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. The sixth individual was a civilian already under indictment for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and is now also charged with wire fraud conspiracy. The Washington Post reports:
Federal prosecutors have charged five members of the Russian military with orchestrating a destabilizing cyberattack on critical Ukrainian computer systems just a month before Russia invaded the country in 2022.
The attack, known as “WhisperGate,” targeted dozens of computers maintained by Ukraine’s government as part of a conspiracy that U.S. officials have said was intended to sow distrust among Ukrainians. According to a superseding indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland, hackers accessed and later sold the personal data of Ukrainian citizens. They also targeted protected computer systems associated with 26 NATO countries, as well as a U.S. government agency located in Maryland.
Read more at The Washington Post.
