In the context of the upcoming US presidential elections, the US Government claimed to have confiscated 41 internet domains used by Russian intelligence agents and their representatives to hack government agencies, including the Pentagon and the State DepartmentThe US Department of Justice announced this Thursday.
The department said it had acted simultaneously with Microsoft to take down 66 Internet domains used by the same actors. The confiscated domains were used by computer hackers linked to a unit of Russia’s Federal Security Service.
Likewise, it is speculated that these hacks are strongly related to the United States presidential elections on November 5 in an attempt to spread uncertainty among voters.
“The Russian government carried out this scheme to steal sensitive information from Americans, using seemingly legitimate email accounts to trick victims into revealing their account credentials,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
Subsequently, Microsoft also released a statement stating that the biggest actor in the hacking attempt was Star Blizzard. This group is known among cyberespionage experts, and Microsoft said that what they were looking for was to access the internal systems of the victims to leak confidential information and interfere with your activities.
In 2023, the British government and its allies attributed Star Blizzard to the Russian Federal Security Service and exposed its attempted interference in UK politics through the persecution of elected officials and the public sector. On that occasion, the campaign also sought to hack United States, other NATO members and Ukraine.
Star Blizzard’s actions were persistent and sophisticated, according to Microsoft, and the group often researched its targets in detail before launching an attack.
Star Blizzard had used the domains in a campaign pshishing aimed at obtaining access to information from US companies, former employees of the US intelligence community, former and current employees of the Department of Defense and the Department of State, US military defense contractors and personnel of the Department of Energy, which oversees numerous nuclear programs, according to Microsoft.
On the other hand, Microsoft warned that they have been monitoring this cyberespionage group since 2017, after an attack that occurred in 2016. It also encouraged all civil society groups to tighten their cybersecurity protections and governments around the world to get involved. and work together to combat the increasingly sophisticated threats operating in cyberspace.
Officials have not gone into detail about Star Blizzard’s effectiveness against these hacking attempts, but said they expect Russia to continue carrying out cyberattacks against the United States and its allies.
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