Russian national indicted for role in cyberattacks on Ukraine | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amin Timovich Stigal is alleged to have participated in attacks dubbed \u201cWhisperGate\u201d ahead of Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russian national indicted for role in cyberattacks on Ukraine\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amin Timovich Stigal is alleged to have participated in attacks dubbed \u201cWhisperGate\u201d ahead of Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta 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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=\"25.345315904139\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"30.191489361702\">\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> Amin Timovich Stigal is alleged to have participated in attacks dubbed \u201cWhisperGate\u201d ahead of Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. <\/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=\"314\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine.jpg?resize=640%2C314&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine-3.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine-3.jpg?resize=300,147 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine-3.jpg?resize=768,377 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine-3.jpg?resize=1024,502 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine-3.jpg?resize=1536,754 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine-3.jpg?resize=600,294 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine-3.jpg?resize=1200,589 1200w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine-3.jpg?resize=1500,736 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption> An aerial view of the building of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, also known as the Main Intellegence Directorate, or GRU, July 06, 2023, in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Contributor\/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=\"29.401542833942\"><body readability=\"59.428571428571\"><\/p>\n<p>A federal grand jury in Maryland on Wednesday indicted a Russian who allegedly worked with his country\u2019s military intelligence to attack targets in Ukraine ahead of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022. <\/p>\n<p>Amin Timovich Stigal, 22, participated in wiper attacks against Ukrainian military and civilian targets, federal prosecutors said, using malware disguised to look like ransomware that researchers later dubbed \u201cWhisperGate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stigal, who remains at large, faces charges of conspiracy to hack into and destroy government systems and data, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/russian-national-charged-conspiring-russia-military-intelligence-destroy-ukrainian\">Department of Justice said in a statement<\/a>. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/rewardsforjustice.net\/rewards\/amin-stigal\/\">U.S. State Department separately announced<\/a> Wednesday a $10 million reward for information on Stigal through its Rewards for Justice program. As early as 2021, computer environments managed by Stigal were used as part of WhisperGate campaigns, according to the State Department, including in operations against Ukrainian, NATO and U.S. computer networks.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Amin Timovich Stigal (U.S. State Department)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In May 2022, Authorities in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/viasat-hack-russia-uk-eu-us-ukraine\/\">formally blamed the Russian government<\/a> for deploying WhisperGate as part of a formal attribution for a separate operation targeting <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/viasat-sentinelone-acidrain-vpnfilter\/\">Viasat<\/a>, a satellite communications company whose modems were hobbled as the invasion commenced.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the WhisperGate activity included stealing civilian data from Ukrainian targets, including patient health records, and posting it for sale online for a relatively paltry $10,000, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/microsoft-gru-russia-ukraine-hacking\/\">a June 2023 report from Microsoft<\/a>. The group behind the WhisperGate deployment used the persona \u201cFree Civilian\u201d to advertise the material for sale, Microsoft said.<\/p>\n<p>The Free Civilian Telegram channel remains available, but the last post was more than a year ago. A message sent to the contact for the channel went unanswered Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The group, tracked by Microsoft as \u201cCadet Blizzard,\u201d has been operational in some capacity since at least 2020 and has engaged in \u201cfocused destructive attacks, espionage, and information operations in regionally significant areas,\u201d including attacks in Ukraine, Europe and Latin America, according to the Microsoft report.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"1.2297297297297\">\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\/2024\/06\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine-2.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. 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{"id":4196,"date":"2024-06-26T14:44:54","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T19:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=80827"},"modified":"2024-06-26T14:44:54","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T19:44:54","slug":"russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/06\/26\/russian-national-indicted-for-role-in-cyberattacks-on-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian national indicted for role in cyberattacks on Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"