Britain and Australia accuse Russian military intelligence GRU of global cyberattacks
Russian military intelligence accused of cyberattacks targeting political institutions, businesses, media and sport bodies around the world
Britain and Australia on Thursday accused Russian military intelligence of conducting a campaign of cyberattacks targeting political institutions, businesses, media and sport bodies around the world, while the US has indicted seven Russian agents it said were involved in a global hacking conspiracy.
At the same time, Canada also claimed to have been targeted by Russian hackers, citing breaches at its centre for ethics in sports and the Montreal-based World Anti-Doping Agency.
Operatives from Russia’s GRU arm carried out various “reckless and indiscriminate” high-profile online attacks, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement.
Many have been previously linked to Moscow, including the 2017 “BadRabbit” ransomware targeting of a Ukrainian international airport and Russian media outlets, and the attempted hacking of the World Anti-Doping Agency in Switzerland, also last year.
“This pattern of behaviour demonstrates (the GRU’s) desire to operate without regard to international law or established norms and to do so with a feeling of impunity and without consequences,” Hunt said.
“Our message is clear: together with our allies, we will expose and respond to the GRU’s attempts to undermine international stability.”