Russian Hackers Attacked American State and Local Networks, US Government Says

The hackers successfully broke into an unspecified number of networks and, as of earlier this month, had stolen data from two of them.

By Reuters | Updated: 23 October 2020 16:06 IST

Russian Hackers Attacked American State and Local Networks, US Government Says

Russia obtained public voter information and Iran sent spoofed emails to US voters to intimidate them

Highlights

The names of the targeted governments were not disclosed
The FBI said it was "shining a spotlight on Russia's nefarious behaviour"
The alert comes amid concern about hacking ahead of the US election

Hackers sponsored by Russia have been trying to break into US ;state and local government computer networks and in two instances were successful, US government agencies said on Thursday, the second major warning over foreign hacking in as many days.

In an alert less than two weeks before the US election, the agencies said that a Russian group, sometimes called Berserk Bear or Dragonfly by researchers, had targeted dozens of state, local, tribal and territorial US governments as well as aviation networks.

"Since at least September 2020, a Russian state-sponsored ... actor ... has conducted a campaign against a wide variety of US targets," the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security said.

Facebook Suspends Fake Russian Accounts, Warns of US Election Threat

The hackers successfully broke into an unspecified number of networks and, as of earlier this month, had stolen data from two of them, the agencies said in a posting on the website of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

The names of the targeted governments were not disclosed. DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The FBI provided no further details but said in a statement that it was "shining a spotlight on Russia's nefarious behaviour."

In response to a request for comment, the Russian Embassy in Washington pointed to recent comments by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling such allegations "absolutely groundless."

US Releases Detailed Look at Russia's Election Hacking

The alert comes amid heightened concern about hacking ahead of the US presidential election on November 3.

Many in the United States have worried about a potential repeat of 2016, when hackers alleged to be working for Russia's military intelligence stole and released emails belonging to prominent US Democrats and other political figures, according to US intelligence agencies and government officials.

US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday that Russia and Iran have both tried to interfere with the 2020 presidential election, seeking to undermine Americans' confidence in the integrity of the vote and spread misinformation in an attempt to sway its outcome.

Russia obtained public voter information and Iran sent spoofed emails to US voters in an attempt to intimidate them, Ratcliffe said.

US officials were careful in Thursday's warning to emphasize that they had no information to indicate the hackers had intentionally disrupted any elections or government operations.

"However, the actor may be seeking access to obtain future disruption options, to influence US policies and actions, or to delegitimise (state and local) government entities," the alert said.

Are iPhone 12 mini, HomePod mini the Perfect Apple Devices for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.