PITTSBURGH, PA — Seven Russian intelligence officers have been indicted on multiple charges after prosecutors say they hacked computers in multiple countries as part of a disinformation campaign aimed at undermining the efforts of international anti-doping organizations. The indictment, announced Thursday, stems from a doping scandal at the Sochi Games in 2014, where investigator Richard McLaren, appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, found that Russia had a state-sponsored doping program and orchestrated cover-up efforts. Three individuals charged in the scheme are also charged in the hacking of Americans in the 2016 election, though the latest indictment did not arise out of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian hacking and possible coordination with the Trump campaign.
A grand jury in western Pennsylvania indicted the individuals on charges of computer hacking, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. The individuals, all Russian nationals who live in Russia, were officers in the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, a military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Prosecutors say that between December 2014 and May 2018, the hackers conducted a “persistent and sophisticated” global computer infiltration scheme. They allegedly targeting Americans, companies, international organizations and even their employees.
The ambitious goal: Delegitimize the efforts of international anti-doping groups and officials who publicly exposed Russia’s doping program and damage the reputations of athletes by lying that they, too, were using banned or performance-enhancing drugs.
“State-sponsored hacking and disinformation campaigns pose serious threats to our security and to our open society, but the Department of Justice is defending against them,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a release. “Today we are indicting seven GRU officers for multiple felonies each, including the use of hacking to spread the personal information of hundreds of anti-doping officials and athletes as part of an effort to distract from Russia’s state-sponsored doping program.”
Multiple Americans and American entities were targeted, Sessions said, including the national anti-doping agency and even the Westinghouse Electric Company, located near Pittsburgh.
“We are determined to achieve justice in these cases and we will continue to protect the American people from hackers and disinformation,” he said.
The hackers damaged the U.S. economy and organizations across the globe. Hundreds of people were victimized, officials said.
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“Their actions extended beyond borders, but so did the FBI’s investigation,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.” We worked closely with our international partners to identify the actors and disrupt their criminal campaign — and today, we are sending this message: The FBI will not permit any government, group, or individual to threaten our people, our country, or our partners. We will work tirelessly to find them, stop them, and bring them to justice.”
The hackers used bogus personas and proxy servers, researched victims and blasted so-called “spearphishing emails,” prosecutors said. The defendants also utilized malware command and control servers.
Some teams of GRU technical intelligence officers even went so far as to travel to the locations of the victims if remote hacking efforts were unsuccessful. Those teams then hacked computer networks via Wi-Fi connections, including at hotels. Log-in credentials and other necessary access privileges were then sent to conspirators in Russia to be exploited.
Prosecutors say that after 2015, the conspirators began targeting systems used by international anti-doping organizations and officials. The hackers stole credentials, medical records and other data and then used social media accounts and other means to publicly release carefully-selected pieces of stolen information. In many cases, the disseminated information was false or only told some of the story.
“As part of its influence and disinformation efforts, the Fancy Bears’ Hack Team engaged in a concerted effort to draw media attention to the leaks through a proactive outreach campaign,” the Justice Department said.
The defendants, all Russian nationals and residents, are Aleksei Sergeyevich Morenets, 41, Evgenii Mikhaylovich, Serebriakov, 37, Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov, 32, Artem Andreyevich Malyshev, 30, and Dmitriy Sergeyevich Badin, 27, who were each assigned to Military Unit 26165, and Oleg Mikhaylovich Sotnikov, 46, and Alexey Valerevich Minin, 46, who were also GRU officers.
Yermakov, Malyshev, and Badin were also charged in a separate case with conspiring to gain unauthorized access into the computers of Americans and American groups involved in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The FBI has seized the fancybears.net and fancybears.org domains in order to prevent further abuses.
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