A hacking group linked to Russia's FSB intelligence service tried to break into the systems of dozens of Western political institutes, journalists, former military and intelligence officials, US companies and the Department of Energy, which oversees nuclear programs, Microsoft and US authorities said today.
The group, known as Star Blizzard, targeted its victims through emails that appeared to come from a trusted source, but in fact, those emails sought access to victims' internal systems as a way to steal information and disrupt their activities.
Today, a US court unsealed documents authorizing Microsoft and the Justice Department to seize more than 100 Star Blizzard-related site domains. That action followed a lawsuit filed against it by Microsoft and the Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a nonprofit technology organization that investigated Star Blizzard.
Authorities did not go into detail about the effectiveness of Star Blizzard, but said they expect Russia to continue to use hacking and cyber attacks against the US and its allies.
"The Russian government ran this scheme to steal US sensitive information, using seemingly legitimate email accounts to trick victims into revealing account credentials," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in announcing the US actions against Star Blizzard.
Star Blizzard is affiliated with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). Last year, British authorities accused the group of launching a long-running campaign of cyber espionage against British members of parliament. Microsoft said it has been monitoring the group's activities since 2017.
Microsoft said it had monitored Star Blizzard attempting dozens of hacking efforts targeting 30 different groups since January 2023. The company's cybersecurity experts say Star Blizzard has proven particularly elusive.
US authorities indicted two Russians last year in connection with Star Blizzard's past actions. Both are believed to be in Russia.
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