The United States has offered a reward of $10 million to anyone who provides it with information on six Russian intelligence officers suspected of being involved in its cyber attack, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the State Department.
The statement also stated that the Ministry’s Rewards for Justice Program is looking for them “for their role in a conspiracy linked to malicious cyber activities,” and they are the ones who “Al Arabiya.net” published an advertisement above, including their photos and names, citing the “Rewards for Justice Program” account. Arabic language on social media.
The intrusion also included Ukraine
The ministry statement explained, that the aim of their prosecution is to “identify, or locate any person operating under the supervision or control of a foreign government, engaged in malicious activities in cyberspace once morest critical infrastructure of the United States,” adding that the six participated in a conspiracy linked to the use of “subversive programs and activities.” Others” to obtain strategic benefits for Russia “by infiltrating the computers” of the US government, in addition to the infiltration of Ukraine as well, according to the displayed video.
In mid-2017, the United States was subjected to a cyberattack, using a virus known that year as NotPetya as an update to another named Petya, which preceded it to hacking by more than a year, so the American authorities pointed the finger of suspicion at the six mentioned, until it decided to allocate a reward for those who indicated it to them.
Almost 9 months later, “Archyde.com” broadcast a report on how NotPetya hackers accessed important American networks, and indicated that cyber security services are focused on penetrating “enemy” lines and are unable to defend their institutions, and that General Paul Nakasone, head of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command. In the United States, during a special dinner for the most prominent executives in the technology security sector, he bragged regarding the capabilities of the two institutions to protect the country from spies, and said at the time that American units “understand opponents more than they understand themselves,” as he put it.
But during his speech, hackers were planting malware in the network of SolarWinds Corp in Texas, and following more than 3 weeks of that dinner, the hackers began a massive intelligence operation, infiltrating key government agencies and many institutions in the United States, as well as other companies in the world, And the hackers were none other than the Russians who gained access to the email of the US Treasury and Commerce departments.
