The US Justice Department and Microsoft said on Thursday they had seized 107 Internet domains used by hackers linked to Russian intelligence to target US government employees, defense contractors and civil society organizations.
Hackers linked to an element of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) used 41 domains in a phishing campaign that targeted U.S.-based companies and current and former employees of the U.S. intelligence community, the Pentagon, the State Department and the Department of Energy as well, federal investigators said. as US defense contractors, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.
Investigators believe the hackers were seeking “information of value to the Russian government, particularly regarding its efforts to engage in malign foreign influence operations within the United States,” authorities said.
Ministry of Justice accused Two Russian intelligence officers were arrested last December in connection with the hacking campaign.
A federal court in Washington, D.C., also granted Microsoft permission to seize 66 Internet domains used by the same cyber espionage group – known as the Callisto Group or Star Blizzard – to steal information from journalists, think tanks and other civil society organizations. The company said the organizations.
A lawyer for Microsoft’s digital crimes unit said Blog post The group has targeted at least 82 of its clients since January of last year, “at a rate of approximately one attack per week.”
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