Microsoft: Russian hackers were going to attack sites associated with the US Republican Party

Microsoft claims that "Russian hackers" associated with the GRU have found a new target - centers of expertise associated with the US Republican Party. We are talking about institutions that criticize the policies of President Donald Trump and advocate increased sanctions against Russia. about it . writes The New York Times

Details

• As explained in a Microsoft statement , the company discovered six domains created by the Fancy Bear (aka Strontium, aka APT28) group, which is believed to be associated with the Main Directorate of the General Staff (former GRU - Russian military intelligence). One of the URL domains is similar to the web page of the International Republican Institute, whose board includes six senators from the Republican Party, the second - to the site of another major conservative political center, the Hudson Institute. Three more sites, judging by the name of the domains, were supposed to imitate the pages of the structures of the US Senate, writes Microsoft.
• The fake sites were designed to make users think they were accessing official links from the respective institutions, but were actually going to pages set up by hackers to steal passwords and other sensitive information, the NYT explains.
• Whether any real attacks were carried out using these domains is unknown, the company acknowledges. But the whole picture discovered by the company resembles the activity of hackers before the US elections in 2016 and the elections in France in 2017 (then Russia was accused of cyber attacks on the headquarters of Emmanuel Macron).
• Cyber ​​attacks on Republican think tanks indicate that the goal of Russian intelligence is to disrupt the work of all institutions that oppose Russia and Vladimir Putin, the NYT notes. Microsoft President Brad Smith called the attacks a new bipartisan security threat ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. He also stressed that now hackers are increasingly attacking a variety of sites (not just those associated with the Democratic Party, as in 2016).

Context

• Recently, Trump's national security adviser John Bolton said that not only Russia, but also China, Iran and North Korea pose a threat to the upcoming elections. But cyber activity on their part has not yet been noticed.
• Last week, Trump signed an executive order making it easier for U.S. intelligence to carry out cyberattacks against foreign adversaries. According to one administration official, this is an "offensive step" taken to support military operations, prevent foreign interference in elections and prevent intellectual property theft.
• Earlier, the heads of all American intelligence agencies attacked Russia with accusations of continuing attacks and attempts to interfere in American elections. This was preceded by a statement by the US Department of Homeland Security that a hacker group supported by the Russian authorities in 2016-2017 hacked the electrical networks of American companies that were considered secure, as well as a statement by a Microsoft vice president that the same hackers that attacked the Democratic Party in 2016, attempted to hack at least three candidates in the 2018 midterm elections using corporate fake domains.
• On July 13, a jury in the United States charged in absentia 12 Russian military intelligence officers with hacking into computers of the Democratic Party and members of the Clinton campaign. According to investigators, the defendants began their cyberattacks in March 2016, using malicious software to hack emails. Read more about what the GRU officers are accused of, we wrote here .
• Now the United States is actively discussing the issue of strengthening sanctions against Russia for interference in the elections. The expansion of sanctions is tied to possible interference in the November elections. The next hearings on the issue of new sanctions will be held in the Senate on August 21 in the evening Moscow time.

What do I get from this?

The week promises a lot of news about new US sanctions - and this, as we have already seen, can mean sharp fluctuations in the ruble. Microsoft's report could give the American hawks more arguments at the Senate hearings tonight. But for now, senators are discussing easing sanctions bills to avoid incidental damage to the global economy and European consumers of Russian oil and gas.

Liana Faizova