OAN Staff James Myers
10:45am – Thursday, October 3, 2024
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that it has seized dozens of Internet domains used by Russian intelligence services and their agents to steal sensitive information from U.S. government computers and email accounts.
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In an unsealed warrant unsealed this week, the Justice Department claims that the Callisto Group, a unit under the Security Service of Russia's Federal Security Service, was involved in an investigation aimed at gaining unauthorized access to Russian federal government computers and email accounts. It accused the company of conducting a “sustained and sophisticated spear-phishing campaign”. victims.
The warrant also alleges that Russian-led cybercriminals have obtained “valuable information and confidential information of the United States government.”
Targets included former U.S. intelligence officials, former and current Department of Defense employees, State Department employees, Department of Energy employees, U.S. military contractors, and U.S.-based companies.
The Department of Justice seized a total of 41 Internet domains, worked with Microsoft to assist in their removal, and seized an additional 66 proprietary domains operated by the same group.
Meanwhile, Microsoft said that between January 2023 and August 2024, nation-state cybercriminals targeted “more than 30 civil society organizations, journalists, think tanks, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that are central to ensuring that democracies thrive. to steal sensitive information and interfere with their operations, according to a blog post published Thursday by Microsoft's Digital Crimes Division.
The Callisto Group, also known as Star Blizzard, has been actively conducting cyberattacks since 2017, according to Microsoft. The group also “targets nonprofit organizations, think tanks, and officials who have provided assistance to Ukraine and NATO countries.” This is true not only in the United States and the United Kingdom, but also in the Baltic States, Northern Europe, and Eastern Europe. ”
“They are particularly aggressively targeting former intelligence community officials, Russian affairs experts, and Russian nationals living in the United States,” Microsoft's Digital Crimes division wrote.
The Justice Department claimed the hackers attempted to “improve their criminal plans” by making the phishing emails appear more authentic and mining compromised email accounts for more information.
“The Russian government used seemingly legitimate email accounts to trick victims into revealing their account credentials in this scheme to steal sensitive information from Americans,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. carried out,” he said. “With the continued support of our private sector partners, we will work relentlessly to expose Russian actors and cybercriminals and strip them of the tools of their illegal trade.”
Microsoft said the domain seizure would allow its investigators to obtain “valuable information” about Russian state actors and “improve the security of our products and share it with cross-sector partners to support their own investigations.” “It can be used to assist and identify individuals.” and assisting victims in their remedial efforts. ”
However, the technology company said it expects cybercriminals to build new infrastructure in the coming weeks and months.
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