US says it disrupted Russian efforts to hack government sites

4/10/2024 6:23

        The United States has seized 41
        internet domains used by Russian intelligence agents and their
        proxies to hack into government agencies including the Pentagon
        and State Department, the Justice Department said on Thursday.
        
        The department in a statement said it had acted concurrently
        with a Microsoft effort to take down 66 internet
        domains used by the same actors. The seized domains were used by
        hackers linked to a unit of the Russian Federal Security
        Service.
        
        “The Russian government ran this scheme to steal Americans’
        sensitive information, using seemingly legitimate email accounts
        to trick victims into revealing account credentials," said
        Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
        
        The hackers had used the domains in a spear-phishing
        campaign aimed at getting access to information from U.S.
        companies, former employees of the U.S. intelligence community,
        former and current Department of Defense and State Department
        employees, U.S. military defense contractors, and staff at the
        Department of Energy, the DOJ said.
        
        The seized domains were used by hackers belonging to the
        “Callisto Group” and its partners, which the DOJ described as a
        unit within the FSB. The group, also known as "Cold River" or
        "Star Blizzard", first appeared on the radar of intelligence
        professionals after it targeted Britain's foreign office in
        2016.
        
        The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to a request
        for comment.
        
        In December 2023, the DOJ announced charges against two
        hackers affiliated with Cold River for a campaign to hack into
        computer networks in the U.S., the UK, other NATO members, and
        Ukraine.