The US Department of Justice accuses 4 Russian government employees of alleged cyberattacks targeting energy companies and affecting 135 countries between 2012 and 2018. Three of the defendants were also designated as Russian intelligence officers. There is no explanation about the attacks that took place after 2018.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said in a statement that “Russian state-sponsored hackers pose a serious and lasting threat to critical institutions and organizations both in the United States and in different countries of the world.” “They need to harden their defenses and show extra sensitivity to this type of attack,” he warned.
An employee of a research institute affiliated with the Russian Ministry of Defense is accused of helping to hack an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia in 2017, according to a published indictment. Programmer Evgeny Viktorvich Gladkikh targeted the refinery’s security systems, while in another indictment, 3 Russian intelligence officers contributed to hacking energy companies in more than 100 countries, including the United States, to help the Russian government maintain covert access to future critical infrastructure systems. allegedly exists.
Also last week, the FBI warned five U.S. energy companies that they were concerned that their IP addresses associated with Russia were showing potential vulnerabilities to companies.
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