US and British authorities sanction, indict Russian hackers | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"Andrey Korinets and Ruslan Peretyatko are alleged to have played a key role in the FSB's efforts to meddle in U.S. and British politics.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/sanctions-russia-hackers-election-meddling\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US and British authorities sanction, indict Russian hackers\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Andrey Korinets and Ruslan Peretyatko are alleged to have played a key role in the FSB's efforts to meddle in U.S. and British politics.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/sanctions-russia-hackers-election-meddling\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-07T19:51:34+00:00\"> <meta 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content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/cropped-cs_favicon-2.png?w=270\"> <\/head><body class=\"post-template-default single single-post postid-78468 single-format-standard\" id=\"readabilityBody\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/sanctions-russia-hackers-election-meddling\/#main\" class=\"skip-to-content-link visually-hidden-focusable\">Skip to main content<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-desktop\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.374734607219\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"30.226890756303\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/geopolitics\/\"> <span>Geopolitics<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Andrey Korinets and Ruslan Peretyatko are alleged to have played a key role in the FSB’s efforts to meddle in U.S. and British politics. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"413\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers.jpg?resize=640%2C413&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers-2.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers-2.jpg?resize=300,194 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers-2.jpg?resize=768,496 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers-2.jpg?resize=1024,661 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers-2.jpg?resize=1536,992 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers-2.jpg?resize=600,388 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers-2.jpg?resize=260,168 260w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers-2.jpg?resize=522,337 522w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers-2.jpg?resize=1045,675 1045w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers-2.jpg?resize=1305,843 1305w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1045px) 100vw, 1045px\"><figcaption> A police car goes past the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor agency to the KGB, and Lubyanka Square in front of it in central Moscow on March 3, 2023. (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV\/AFP via Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"41.833463643471\"><body readability=\"84.155844155844\"><\/p>\n<p>In a series of indictments and sanctions announced Thursday, authorities in the United States and Britain accused two Russian intelligence officers of orchestrating a long-running hack-and-leak-operation aimed at meddling in U.S. and U.K. politics. <\/p>\n<p>The men \u2014 identified as Andrey Stanislavovich Korinets and Ruslan Aleksandrovich Peretyatko \u2014 were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/two-russian-nationals-working-russias-federal-security-service-charged-global-computer\">indicted by the U.S. Justice Department<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy1962\">sanctioned by both the U.S. Treasury<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/gov.uk\/government\/news\/uk-exposes-attempted-russian-cyber-interference-in-politics-and-democratic-processes\">and the British government<\/a>. The U.S. State Department <a href=\"https:\/\/rewardsforjustice.net\/\">announced a $10 million reward<\/a> for information related to the men or their wider operation.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. government accused Korinets and Peretyatko of working under the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Center 18, targeting current and former employees of the U.S. government between October 2016 and October 2022 with various phishing and other intelligence-gathering activities.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities in London <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/news\/uk-and-allies-expose-cyber-campaign-attempted-political-interference\">accused<\/a> the two men of targeting parliamentarians and the head of a prominent think tank, the Institute for Statecraft. They\u2019re also accused of leaking stolen documents, including sensitive trade documents that were distributed online ahead of the 2019 U.K. general election, as part of an operation that began perhaps as early as 2015. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In <a href=\"http:\/\/ncsc.gov.uk\/files\/Advisory-Russian-FSB-cyber-actor-star-blizzard-continues-worldwide-spear-sphishing-campaigns.pdf\">an advisory published Thursday<\/a>, the U.K.\u2019s National Cyber Security Centre, the NSA, the FBI, the Cyber National Mission Force, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, as well as agencies in Australia and New Zealand, detailed the tactics, techniques and procedures that the men and their wider group employed as part of their operations.<\/p>\n<p>An <a href=\"http:\/\/justice.gov\/media\/1327601\/dl?inline\">indictment<\/a> unsealed in a California federal court on Thursday alleges that the two men engaged in a \u201csophisticated, global \u2018spear phishing\u2019 campaign to target and gain unauthorized access and to maintain persistent access \u2026 into the computers and email accounts of targets in numerous countries, including [NATO] countries, particularly the [U.S.] and the [U.K.].\u201d <\/p>\n<p>According to the indictment, the men also targeted Ukraine as part of its work \u201cfor the benefit of the Russian government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. targets included former U.S. intelligence personnel, current and former State Department officials, including a retired U.S. ambassador, current and former Department of Defense officials, defense contractors and current employees at several of the Department of Energy\u2019s 17 facilities across the U.S., according to the indictment.<\/p>\n<p>The group that the men are associated with has been tracked by government and industry researchers, known variously as the Callisto Group, Star Blizzard, TA446, ColdRiver, TAG-53 and BlueCharlie. The group\u2019s operations have been widely documented, including in a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pearswick\/status\/1611440182791897088\">January 2023 report from Reuters that identified Korinets<\/a> and his apparent role in the operations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cCOLDRIVER carries out global cyber espionage with a focus on Russia\u2019s perennial interests like Western security and foreign policy. What sets them apart from many of their peers, and makes them particularly dangerous, is their willingness to leak hacked data for political purposes,\u201d John Hultquist, the chief analyst at Google\u2019s Mandiant Intelligence, said in an email. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cRussia\u2019s military intelligence service, the GRU, has received the lionshare of the attention when it comes to election related activity, which is only natural given their history of serious incidents in the US and France, but this actor is one to watch closely as elections near,\u201d Hultquist added. \u201cThe FSB clearly has an interest in political interference, and hacked emails are a powerful tool.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"1.258064516129\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"8\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"AJ Vicens\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by AJ Vicens<\/h4>\n<p> AJ covers nation-state threats and cybercrime. He was previously a reporter at Mother Jones. Get in touch via Signal\/WhatsApp: (810-206-9411). <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__container\">\n<h2 class=\"popular-stories__title\"> More Scoops <\/h2>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<section class=\"latest-podcasts\">\n<h2 class=\"latest-podcasts__title\"> Latest Podcasts\t<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"top-categories\">\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Technology<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Government<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/main> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--bottom \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"interstitial\" class=\"welcome__container\"> <button id=\"close-modal-1\" class=\"welcome__clickable_area\"><\/button> <\/p>\n<div class=\"welcome__ad_wrapper\">\n<p> <button id=\"close-modal-3\" class=\"welcome__continue-button\">Continue to CyberScoop<\/button> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>   <\/body> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/sanctions-russia-hackers-election-meddling\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US and British authorities sanction, indict Russian hackers | CyberScoop<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1286,1287,508,302,270,1271],"tags":[1288,1289,510,306,276,1274],"class_list":["post-2161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-callisto","category-coldriver","category-fsb","category-geopolitics","category-russia","category-sanctions","tag-callisto","tag-coldriver","tag-fsb","tag-geopolitics","tag-russia","tag-sanctions"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","chromenews-featured":"","chromenews-large":"","chromenews-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"Cyber Scoop","author_link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/author\/cyberscoop\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/callisto\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Callisto<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/coldriver\/\" rel=\"category tag\">ColdRiver<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/fsb\/\" rel=\"category tag\">FSB<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/geopolitics\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Geopolitics<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/russia\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Russia<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/sanctions\/\" rel=\"category tag\">sanctions<\/a>","tag_info":"sanctions","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":2161,"date":"2023-12-07T19:51:34","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T19:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=78468"},"modified":"2023-12-07T19:51:34","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T19:51:34","slug":"us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/07\/us-and-british-authorities-sanction-indict-russian-hackers\/","title":{"rendered":"US and British authorities sanction, indict Russian hackers"},"content":{"rendered":"