On Thursday, London condemned “Russia’s failed attempt to interfere in British politics.” Meanwhile, Washington published indictments against two Russians for a “campaign to hack the computer networks of the United States, Britain, other NATO countries, and Ukraine on behalf of the Russian government.”
First modification:
3 minutes
On Thursday, December 7, the United Kingdom and the United States accused Russia of being behind “unacceptable” cyber interference attempts aimed at high-level politicians, journalists and non-governmental organizations.
London summoned the Russian ambassador, according to the British Foreign Ministry, while the US Department of Justice announced charges against two Russian citizens, including an agent of the Russian security service (FSB).
“Russia’s attempts to interfere in British politics are completely unacceptable and are intended to threaten our democratic processes,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron was quoted as saying in a statement. “Despite repeated attempts, they failed,” he added.
“While some attacks have led to document leaks, attempts to interfere in British politics and democracy have not been successful,” according to the Ministry, which stated that politicians, civil servants, journalists and NGOs had been the targets of its attacks.
Two Russian citizens were charged in the United States
Meanwhile, American judicial authorities on Tuesday announced the indictment by a court in San Francisco (west) of two Russian citizens, Ruslan Aleksandrovich Peretyatko, an FSB agent, according to Washington and London, and Andreï Stanislavovich Korinets.
They are accused of “conducting a campaign to hack the computer networks of the United States, United Kingdom, other countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and Ukraine on behalf of the Russian government,” according to the Justice Department. .America in a statement. Each was charged with two crimes of computer hacking that carry a maximum sentence of 5 and 20 years in prison.
In the United States, these hacking attempts “targeted current or former employees of the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, Department of State, Defense contractors, and Department of Energy infrastructure, at least between October 2016 and October 2022,” according to the statement.
FSB special unit
Both defendants belonged to a hacking group linked to Center 18, a special FSB unit identified as “Star Blizzard” by London and “Callisto Group” by Washington. They are now subject to sanctions by the UK and US Treasury Departments, and the US State Department has announced a reward of up to $10 million for those providing information regarding their location and capture, as well as their accomplices.
“Both are currently wanted by the FBI and are believed to be in Russia,” a senior US Federal Police (FBI) official told reporters on condition of anonymity, adding that he did not expect Moscow to hand them over. “But if they travel to a country that cooperates with the US justice system, they risk being extradited to America,” the official stressed.
A senior Justice Department official acknowledged that the release of these indictments likely made their capture “more difficult,” but this was justified by the need to “disrupt” the hackers’ activities.
The Russian Ambassador was summoned
Deputies from several political parties in Britain have been the target of attacks, particularly using spearfishing techniques, from at least 2015 until this year, according to British diplomacy. Specifically, the report refers to the hacking of leaked trade documents between the United States and the United Kingdom before the 2019 election.
London also said it had summoned the Russian ambassador “to express deep concern at repeated attempts” to use the internet to “disrupt political and democratic processes in the UK and beyond.”
In the House of Commons, Foreign Minister Leo Docherty said that “the FSB was behind this act of interference” in the process. “They are targeting members of this House” and the House of Lords, “civil servants, journalists and NGOs,” he added.
A parliamentary report published in July 2020 accused the Government of grossly underestimating the risks and urged the government to investigate possible Russian interference in British politics, particularly during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign.
*With AFP; adapted from the French original
“Web specialist. Incurable twitteraholic. Explorer. Organizer. Internet nerd. Avid student.”
