Ethical Hacking News
In a significant development, the U.S. Department of Justice has teamed up with Microsoft to disrupt a global computer intrusion campaign orchestrated by Russia's Federal Security Service, aimed at hacking current and former U.S. officials, civil-society groups, and Russians living in the U.S.
The US Department of Justice has teamed up with Microsoft to disrupt a global computer intrusion campaign orchestrated by Russia's Federal Security Service. The operation, code-named "Callisto Group," targeted 30 organizations across the US and allied countries, including media outlets and non-governmental organizations. The hacking campaign sought to gather intelligence on US and allied efforts to support Ukraine and infiltrate pro-democracy organizations. Two Russian nationals have been charged with hacking computers in the US and allied countries and stealing information used in foreign malign influence operations. The disruption of this global computer intrusion campaign highlights the ongoing efforts by the US to protect its democracy from foreign cyber threats.
The United States Department of Justice has teamed up with Microsoft to disrupt a global computer intrusion campaign orchestrated by Russia's Federal Security Service, aimed at hacking current and former U.S. officials, civil-society groups, and Russians living in the U.S. The operation, code-named "Callisto Group," targeted 30 organizations across the United States and allied countries, including media outlets, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations.
According to a report released by the Department of Justice on October 3, 2024, the hacking campaign sought to gather intelligence on U.S. and allied efforts to support Ukraine and to infiltrate and undermine pro-democracy and human rights organizations in the U.S., United Kingdom, and Eastern Europe. The hackers did not directly target political campaigns or election infrastructure but aimed to degrade the civil-society groups that support functioning democracies.
The report stated that from January 2023 to August 2024, the hackers targeted various organizations, stealing their sensitive internal data and attempting to undermine their activities. Steven Masada, an assistant general counsel at Microsoft, described the operation as a "sweeping hacking campaign" aimed at gathering intelligence on U.S. and allied efforts to support Ukraine.
The Department of Justice and Microsoft collaborated to expose the alleged covert Russian operations targeting U.S. democracy in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. The hackers used various tactics, including spear-phishing emails, to compromise the security of their targets.
In response to this cyber threat, the Department of Justice has brought charges against two Russian nationals working with Russia's Federal Security Service on charges related to global computer intrusion. These charges alleged that the individuals were involved in hacking computers in the United States and allied countries and stealing information used in foreign malign influence operations designed to influence the U.K.'s 2019 elections.
The Department of Justice has taken this action as part of its efforts to disrupt and dismantle Russian cyber threats targeting the United States. This operation is a significant development in the ongoing efforts by the Department of Justice to expose alleged covert Russian operations targeting U.S. democracy.
The disruption of this global computer intrusion campaign is a testament to the effective collaboration between law enforcement agencies and technology companies. The Department of Justice has demonstrated its commitment to protecting U.S. interests from foreign cyber threats.
In conclusion, the Department of Justice's operation to disrupt the Callisto Group hacking campaign highlights the ongoing efforts by the United States to protect its democracy from foreign cyber threats. This operation demonstrates the effectiveness of collaboration between law enforcement agencies and technology companies in disrupting such operations.
Related Information:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/microsoft-and-doj-seize-spear-phishing-domains-used-by-star-blizzard-russian-hackers/
https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/03/politics/justice-department-microsoft-disrupt-russian-hacking/index.html
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-disrupts-russian-intelligence-spear-phishing-efforts
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-microsoft-russia-domains-seized/
Published: Fri Oct 4 11:08:44 2024 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
