Russia's Worldwide Cyber Misbehavior

Russia’s Worldwide Cyber Misbehavior

Posted: October 5th, 2018

By Steven L. Hall

Steven L. Hall retired from the Central Intelligence Agency in 2015 after 30 years of running and managing intelligence operations in Eurasia and Latin America. Mr. Hall served as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service, the small cadre of officers who are the senior-most leaders of the CIA's Clandestine Service. Most of Mr. Hall's career was spent abroad, overseeing intelligence operations in the countries of the former Soviet Union and the former Warsaw Pact.

The Department of Justice on Thursday announced that a grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania has indicted seven individuals from the Russian military intelligence agency (GRU), for cyber-crimes including hacking, wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering.

According to the indictment, beginning in late 2014 and continuing until at least May 2018, the individuals conducted sophisticated cyber intrusions and describes a persistent conspiracy that included “close access hacking teams” that would deploy around the world, when remote hacking attempts from Russia failed. The close access teams would use sophisticated equipment and techniques to compromise and gain access to WiFi networks, and after a successful hacking operation, would then transfer the information back to Russia for exploitation.

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