Security News
UNITED NATIONS - The United States, United Kingdom and Estonia accused Russia's military intelligence Thursday of conducting cyber attacks against the Georgian government and media websites in an attempt "To sow discord and disrupt the lives of ordinary Georgians." Estonian Ambassador Sven Jurgenson read a statement afterward, flanked by UK Ambassador Karen Pierce and acting U.S. deputy ambassador Cherith Norman Chalet, saying the cyber attacks "Are part of Russia's long-running campaign of hostile and destabilizing activity against Georgia and are part of a wider pattern of malign activity."
Russia wants to watch Americans "Tear ourselves apart" as the United States heads toward elections, an FBI official warned Monday. Porter spoke at an election security conference on Capitol Hill just days after conflicting accounts emerged of a closed-door briefing intelligence officials had given to House lawmakers on threats from Russia and other nations in the 2020 election.
The Times of London is reporting that Russian agents are in Ireland probing transatlantic communications cables. Ireland is the landing point for undersea cables which carry internet traffic between America, Britain and Europe.
Just weeks into this year's election cycle, Russia already is actively interfering in the U.S. presidential campaign in hopes of reelecting President Donald Trump, and is also trying to help the candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side, intelligence officials have concluded. Lawmakers were told in a classified briefing last week that Russia is taking steps that would help Trump, according to officials familiar with the briefing.
U.S. and U.K. officials are blaming the Russian military for launching an October 2019 cyberattack on the country of Georgia that crippled at least 2,000 government, news media and court websites over the course of one day. A few hours after the U.S. and U.K. released their statements about Georgia on Thursday, the New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence officials had recently warned U.S. lawmakers that Russia has already taken steps to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.
Georgian authorities on Thursday accused Russia's military intelligence of launching a large-scale cyberattack that targeted the government and private organizations with the goal of destabilizing the ex-Soviet nation. Georgia's Foreign Ministry said the Oct. 28 cyberattack was "Targeted at Georgia's national security and intended to harm Georgian citizens and government structures by disrupting and paralyzing the functionality of various organizations, causing anxiety among the general public."
"The National Cyber Security Centre assesses with the highest level of probability that on 28 October 2019 the GRU carried out large-scale, disruptive cyber-attacks," said the Foreign Office in a statement, referring to the main Russian overseas spy agency. Russia has few qualms about letting APT28 loose against foreign countries, as its attacks against Italy a few years ago showed.
Britain and the United States on Thursday accused Russia of orchestrating a "Reckless" cyber assault against Georgia last year as part of an aggressive campaign of online attacks worldwide. The British government said its National Cyber Security Centre had decided Moscow was behind the Georgia cyber attack "With the highest level of probability".
The Russian government, via mouthpiece RIA Novosti, has claimed Korean tech giant Samsung will comply with a controversial Russian law passed in November that forces smartphones and computers to come pre-installed with domestic-made shovelware. "Samsung Electronics will be ready to meet the requirements of the Russian legislation provided by the regulator and adapt the company's activities in accordance with the adopted regulations," the state-owned wire service quoted a "Representative" as telling it.
US President Donald Trump promised to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange if he denied Russia leaked emails of his 2016 election rival's campaign, a London court was told on Wednesday. The White House quickly issued a denial that Trump had dangled a pardon in exchange for help in the Russia controversy, which has cast a shadow over his first term in office.