Russian hackers turn on anti-Kremlin conservatives
Microsoft’s revelation that Russia-linked hackers targeted conservative groups is raising flags about who the Kremlin has in its crosshairs ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
The majority of previously disclosed cyberattacks linked to Moscow have targeted Democrats, but the latest false sites, apparently created by the hacking group known as “Fancy Bear,” were aimed at conservative think tanks publicly critical of Russia — a sign that the group could be expanding its attacks to go after any potential enemies in the U.S.
While Microsoft noted that it lacked “evidence to indicate the identity of the ultimate targets of any planned attack involving these domains,” experts said the revelations serve as a reminder that Democrats aren’t the only ones susceptible to attacks, particularly as prominent Republicans escalate their criticisms of Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
“Vladimir Putin uses cyber operations to promote those who support his political agenda and undermine those who do not,” said Priscilla Moriuchi, director of strategic threat development for the security firm Recorded Future. “This includes people and organizations on both sides of the political aisle.”
Microsoft on Monday announced that a hacking group had created fake websites mimicking those of two think tanks, as well as domain pages that appeared to reference the U.S. Senate. The sites were designed to look like Microsoft's services in an effort to trick users into handing over their personal information to hackers, a technique known as spear-phishing.
The same method was deployed in the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) servers. Russia was believed to be behind that hack, and special counsel Robert Mueller last month indicted 12 Russian military officers for their alleged role in that cyberattack.
This time around, the conservative Hudson Institute was one of the organizations targeted by hackers. The Washington-based think tank has frequently spoken out against the Kremlin.
http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/402938-russian-hackers-turn-on-anti-kremlin-conservatives?rnd=1534892613/?userid=229233