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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--event js-stickybar\">\n<div class=\"stickybar__details\" readability=\"4.952380952381\">\n<div class=\"stickybar__info js-sticky-bar-content\" readability=\"32\">\n<p>Voting is open for the 2024 CyberScoop 50 awards! <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <a class=\"stickybar__link button button-tertiary\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cyberscoop50\/vote\/\">Click here!<\/a> <\/div>\n<p> <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=\"25.455040871935\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"31.155378486056\">\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> The government-backed hackers exploited fake friends and family with spear-phishing lures, according to research published Wednesday. <\/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=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" 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(alex57111, iStock\/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=\"63.477821149752\"><body readability=\"129.42859862909\"><\/p>\n<p>Russian government-connected hackers targeted people working for Eastern European human rights-focused groups, media outlets and a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine with crafty email spear-phishing lures that appeared to come from acquaintances or family, according to research released Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The campaign uncovered by the researchers illustrates the persistence of Kremlin-linked hacking campaigns and the creative methods employed by malicious hackers to compromise their targets. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven after being named and shamed, Russian threat actors are bold enough to keep hacking, even as the U.S. heads into elections,\u201d John Scott-Railton, senior researcher at the University of Toronto\u2019s Citizen Lab, told CyberScoop. \u201cThat\u2019s something we should all be really concerned about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the case of the targeted ambassador, Steven Pifer, the malicious email seemed to come from another fellow former U.S. ambassador, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/citizenlab.ca\/2024\/08\/sophisticated-phishing-targets-russias-perceived-enemies-around-the-globe\">Citizen Lab\u2019s findings<\/a>, which conducted the research alongside digital civil rights group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accessnow.org\/publication\/russian-phishing-campaigns\/\">Access Now<\/a> and other collaborators. Pifer served as ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000, and is now a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank. He did not immediately answer an email seeking comment Tuesday.<\/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>One of the two hacking groups involved, dubbed COLDRIVER, conducted its campaign this year, with fresh emails sent as recently as last week. Traces of hacking by COLDRIVER \u2014 also known as Star Blizzard, Callisto Group and other names \u2014 date back as far as 2015. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/news-events\/cybersecurity-advisories\/aa23-341a\">Western governments have said<\/a> the group is affiliated with the Russian security agency FSB.<\/p>\n<p>Another, apparently new group that the organizations dubbed COLDWASTREL conducted its campaign in 2022 and 2023. The researchers noted that the group\u2019s interests align with the Russian government, but they couldn\u2019t \u201cconfidently attribute\u201d it to Moscow or anyone else. The targets of the campaigns were those with a focus on Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Both groups employed the encrypted email service ProtonMail to attempt to trick its targets into clicking on a PDF leading to fake login pages. Some of the targets said they were deceived into entering their user credentials. <\/p>\n<p>The technology involved in the attack wasn\u2019t sophisticated, said Natalia Krapiva, senior tech legal counsel at Access Now, but that doesn\u2019t mean it wasn\u2019t clever.<\/p>\n<p>What is sophisticated about it is the social engineering side. \u201cIt requires really deep knowledge and understanding of the networks, the people, what they do, who they talk to, who are their funders, who are their friends and so on,\u201d Krapiva told CyberScoop.<\/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>Said Scott-Railton: \u201cGovernments still spear phish if they can do it right. And this operation got a lot right. Until they got caught.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Russian government routinely denies any association with hacking campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>One target of the campaign was Polina Machold, publisher of Proekt, an investigative news site reporting on Russian government corruption and abuses that was exiled from the country three years ago. She said was surprised to be targeted earlier this year because of her behind-the-scenes administrative role, rather than journalists who are more frequently targeted.<\/p>\n<p>She told CyberScoop she got an email purportedly from someone she knew at another news organization to discuss a partnership. The email offered a presentation from a new project, but Machold was skeptical given her cybersecurity training and approached Citizen Lab. \u201cIt was very well done,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>If compromised, Machold said she was concerned that material stolen from her outlet might be used as part of a potential hack-and-leak operation. It also could\u2019ve led to the hackers using her compromised account in other attacks.<\/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>Human rights group First Department, digital security collective Arjuna Team and digital security consultants RESIDENT.ngo collaborated on the investigation of the hacking campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>Dmitry Zair-Bek, who heads First Department, wasn\u2019t surprised to learn his organization was targeted. His group was tipped off to the campaign by a 2022 alert from ProtonMail, which blocked the phony account that contacted them, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey consider us to be an enemy to them,\u201d Zair-Bek said of the Russian government. \u201cThey can easily ban activities they don\u2019t like \u2026 and that\u2019s why they might need the information about the social sector.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, he was concerned. \u201cWe wanted to learn if anything has already leaked by this attack,\u201d he told CyberScoop. \u201cThat was the first thing we wanted to know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While \u201cthe attack was not that complicated,\u201d Zair-Bek said, \u201cit\u2019s not less effective because you don\u2019t expect any message from your actual colleague.\u201d<\/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>The campaign shows that the hackers are upping their game on social engineering, said Rebekah Brown, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab. But it also shows a certain relentlessness.<\/p>\n<p>Russia will target anyone they \u201cview as a threat, regardless of where they are,\u201d she told CyberScoop. And even when they\u2019re called out, \u201cthe changes they do are just enough technical changes meant to get around signatures, but they just continue to carry on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"7.7216117216117\">\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\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Tim Starks\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-card__details\" readability=\"10.901098901099\">\n<h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Tim Starks<\/h4>\n<p> Tim Starks is senior reporter at CyberScoop. His previous stops include working at The Washington Post, POLITICO and Congressional Quarterly. An Evansville, Ind. native, he’s covered cybersecurity since 2003. Email Tim here: <a href=\"mailto:tim.starks@cyberscoop.com\">tim.starks@cyberscoop.com<\/a>. <\/div>\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<div class=\"popular-stories__stories\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__cards\">\n<article class=\"post-item post-item--popular-stories-cards \" readability=\"22.423076923077\">\n<figure class=\"post-item__thumbnail\"> <a class=\"post-item__thumbnail-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/sanctions-russia-hackers-election-meddling\/\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"522\" height=\"337\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-2.jpg?resize=522%2C337&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-ratio-16-9-md size-ratio-16-9-md wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-6.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-6.jpg?resize=300,194 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-6.jpg?resize=768,496 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-6.jpg?resize=1024,661 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-6.jpg?resize=1536,992 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-6.jpg?resize=600,388 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-6.jpg?resize=260,168 260w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-6.jpg?resize=522,337 522w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-6.jpg?resize=1045,675 1045w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-6.jpg?resize=1305,843 1305w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 522px) 100vw, 522px\"> <\/a><figcaption class=\"screen-reader-text\"> 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<header class=\"post-item__meta\" readability=\"2.0239234449761\">\n<h3 class=\"post-item__title\"> <a class=\"post-item__title-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/sanctions-russia-hackers-election-meddling\/\"> US and British authorities sanction, indict Russian hackers <\/a> <\/h3>\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<div class=\"post-item__byline\"> <span class=\"post-item__author\"> <span>By <\/span> <a class=\"post-item__author-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/author\/aj-vicens\/\"> AJ Vicens <\/a> <\/span> <\/div>\n<p> <\/header>\n<p> <\/article>\n<article class=\"post-item post-item--popular-stories-cards \">\n<figure class=\"post-item__thumbnail\"> <a class=\"post-item__thumbnail-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/google-threat-analysis-group-russia-ukraine-china-belarus-hacking\/\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"252\" height=\"168\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-3.jpg?resize=252%2C168&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-ratio-16-9-sm size-ratio-16-9-sm wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-7.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-7.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-7.jpg?resize=768,511 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-7.jpg?resize=1024,682 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-7.jpg?resize=1536,1022 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-7.jpg?resize=600,399 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-7.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-7.jpg?resize=506,337 506w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-7.jpg?resize=1014,675 1014w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-7.jpg?resize=1266,843 1266w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 252px) 100vw, 252px\"> <\/a><figcaption class=\"screen-reader-text\"> Ukrainian security forces stand guard with shell-damaged buildings in the background in the northwestern Kyiv suburb of Borodyanka, Ukraine, on April 21, 2022. (Photo by Scott Peterson\/Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<header class=\"post-item__meta\">\n<h3 class=\"post-item__title\"> <a class=\"post-item__title-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/google-threat-analysis-group-russia-ukraine-china-belarus-hacking\/\"> Multiple government hacking groups stay busy targeting Ukraine and the region, Google researchers say <\/a> <\/h3>\n<\/header>\n<p> <\/article>\n<article class=\"post-item post-item--popular-stories-cards \">\n<figure class=\"post-item__thumbnail\"> <a class=\"post-item__thumbnail-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/russia-espionage-europe-human-rights\/\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"252\" height=\"168\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-4.jpg?resize=252%2C168&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-ratio-16-9-sm size-ratio-16-9-sm wp-post-image\" alt=\"Ukraine\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-8.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-8.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-8.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-8.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-8.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-8.jpg?resize=505,337 505w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador-8.jpg?resize=1012,675 1012w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 252px) 100vw, 252px\"> <\/a><figcaption class=\"screen-reader-text\"> An observer from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is seen at a demonstration in Odessa, Ukraine, on May 2. An OSCE employee is among the recent possible hacking targets of suspected Russian spies. (Photo by Pierre Crom\/Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<header class=\"post-item__meta\">\n<h3 class=\"post-item__title\"> <a class=\"post-item__title-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/russia-espionage-europe-human-rights\/\"> Ex-US ambassador, anti-corruption activists in Ukraine were targets of suspected Russian phishing <\/a> <\/h3>\n<div class=\"post-item__byline\"> <span class=\"post-item__author\"> <span>By <\/span> <a class=\"post-item__author-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/author\/sean-lyngaas\/\"> Sean Lyngaas <\/a> <\/span> <\/div>\n<p> <\/header>\n<p> <\/article>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\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\">Government<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 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{"id":4854,"date":"2024-08-14T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=81399"},"modified":"2024-08-14T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T12:00:00","slug":"russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/08\/14\/russian-hacking-campaign-targets-rights-groups-media-former-us-ambassador\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian hacking campaign targets rights groups, media, former US ambassador"},"content":{"rendered":"