5 Oct (NucNet): A grand jury in Pennsylvania has indicted seven defendants, all officers in the Russian intelligence directorate (GRU), for computer hacking, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering, including the attempted hacking of nuclear reactor company Westinghouse Electric Company.
According to the indictment, beginning in or around December 2014 and continuing until at least May 2018, the conspiracy conducted “persistent and sophisticated computer intrusions” affecting US individuals, corporations, international organisations, and their respective employees around the world.
In a statement on 4 October 2018 the US Department of Justice said that as early as 20 November 2014, one of the defendants performed reconnaissance of Westinghouse’s networks and personnel. In the following months, the same defendants and conspirators created a fake Westinghouse domain and sent “spearphishing” emails to Westinghouse employees’ work and personal email accounts, which were designed to harvest the employees’ log-in credentials.
The indictment alleges that three of the defendants and unidentified conspirators, often using fictitious personas and proxy servers, researched victims, sent spearphishing emails, and compiled, used, and monitored malware command and control servers.
Details online: https://bit.ly/2BWHpzy
