The computer systems of the online edition The Bell were hacked by hackers. The team of journalists announced this on Thursday, September 2, in Telegram.
“We were hacked again. Our subscribers have just received a mailing list with a strange provocative text that we did not write or send,” the editorial notice says.
The Bell subscribers received an appeal under the guise of a morning mailing, which states that the “boycott of the elections” on September 17-19 is “the only correct decision.” The text sent by the hackers calls for three options: not to come to the polls, or come and spoil the ballot, or vote for any party other than United Russia. In addition, voters are offered not to vote through the “Gosuslugi” portal.
“The opposition in the Russian Federation is practically destroyed”
The text of the “mailing list” states that “the opposition in the Russian Federation has practically been destroyed”, and it is also recommended “as a sign of solidarity with the editorial board” to go to a single picket on September 19 demanding fair elections.
The Bell journalists noted that they understand what happened and ask for forgiveness from their audience. The newsletter was not published on The Bell’s website and social networks.
The editorial board believes that hackers did not gain access to subscriber data
The editorial office clarifies that the current information about the attack indicates that “the attackers did not get access to the subscribers’ data.”
The Bell: The publication does not participate in political activities
The staff of the publication also emphasized that The Bell “does not participate in political activities and never encourages readers to take any action.”
“Our only task is to provide you with objective information,” the publication’s website says.
Not the first cyberattack
In mid-August it became known that the criminals were trying to hack the phone and get access to the data of the special correspondent of The Bell Irina Pankratova. As noted in the editorial office, apparently, the attackers, using a fake power of attorney, ordered the detailing of her calls and messages for almost two years. The reporter linked the incident to her investigations.
Later, on August 25, The Bell reported an external attack on its website that stopped opening it.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
Personal data of German politicians appeared on the web
As it became known on January 4, at the end of 2018, links to personal data – including passport and credit cards – of 994 German politicians, actors, journalists, musicians appeared on Twitter. Already on January 6, a 20-year-old student of a gymnasium in Hesse was arrested on suspicion of burglary. According to the police, he spent a lot of time at the computer, but he has no special education.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
Russian “bears”
In recent years, news of hackers and cyberattacks has become commonplace. Often the authorship of the hacks is attributed to several groups of hackers – Cozy Bear (literally “cozy bear”, also known as APT29), Fancy Bear (“fashionable bear”, APT28) and Energetic Bear (“energy bear”), which are associated with the Russian special services. The evidence is indirect, but each time there are more and more of them.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
Attacks on the power grids of the USA and Germany
In the summer of 2018, it became known about the attacks of the Energetic Bear hacker group on the power grids of the United States and Germany. According to American intelligence agencies, in the United States, burglars have even reached the stage where they could turn electricity on and off and disable the flow of energy. In Germany, hackers managed to penetrate the networks of only a few companies before the German special services took control of the situation.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
USA accused GRUshnik of cyberattacks
On July 13, 2018, the US Department of Justice (in the photo – the office of the department in Washington) accused 12 Russian citizens of trying to interfere in the election of the American president in 2016. According to the investigation, the employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces participated in the hacking of the computer systems of the Democratic Party and the campaign headquarters of Hillary Clinton.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
USA and UK accused Russia of a large-scale cyberattack
On April 16, 2018, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security and the British Center for National Computer Security announced that Russian hackers attacked government agencies and private companies in an attempt to seize intellectual property and gain access to the networks of their victims. Australian Defense Minister Maryse Payne voiced similar accusations on the same day.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
Bad Rabbit hit Russia and Ukraine
The new Bad Rabbit virus hit the servers of several Russian media outlets on October 24. In addition, the hackers attacked several government agencies in Ukraine, as well as the systems of the Kiev metro, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Odessa airport. Earlier, Bad Rabbit attacks were recorded in Turkey and Germany. Experts believe that the virus spreads in a manner similar to ExPetr (aka Petya).
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
Cyberattack of the century
On May 12, 2017, it became known that tens of thousands of computers in 74 countries were subjected to a cyberattack of an unprecedented scale. The WannaCry virus encrypts data on computers, hackers promise to remove the lock for a ransom of $ 300 in bitcoins. Medical institutions in Great Britain, Deutsche Bahn in Germany, computers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Investigative Committee and Russian Railways, as well as Spain, India and other countries were particularly affected.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
Petya virus
In June 2017, attacks by the powerful Petya.A virus were recorded around the world. He paralyzed the work of the servers of the Ukrainian government, the national post office, and the Kiev metro. The virus has also affected a number of companies in the Russian Federation. Computers in Germany, Great Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the USA were infected. There is no information about who was behind the spread of the virus.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
Attack on the Bundestag
In May 2015, it was discovered that the attackers had penetrated the internal computer network of the Bundestag using a malicious program (“Trojan”). IT experts found traces of the APT28 group in this attack. In favor of the Russian origin of the hackers was evidenced, among other things, by the Russian-language settings of the virus program and the time of their operations, which coincided with the Moscow office hours.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
Against Hillary
During the election race for the presidency of the United States, hackers twice gained access to the servers of the Democratic Party of candidate Hillary Clinton. American intelligence agencies and IT companies have established that representatives of Cozy Bear were active in the summer of 2015, and Fancy Bear in the spring of 2016. According to the US intelligence services, the cyberattacks were sanctioned by senior Russian officials.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
Merkel’s party at gunpoint
In May 2016, it became known that the headquarters of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel had been hacked. IT specialists claimed that the Cozy Bear hackers tried to get access to the CDU databases using phishing (sending letters with links to sites that are indistinguishable from real ones), but the attempts were unsuccessful.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
Doping hack
In September 2016, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) reported a breach in its database. The Fancy Bear group has posted on the Web documents with a list of athletes that WADA has allowed to use drugs from the prohibited list (therapeutic exceptions) in connection with the treatment of diseases. Among them were American tennis players Serena and Venus Williams and gymnast Simone Biles.
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Hack me completely: high-profile cyberattacks and data leaks in recent years
500 million Yahoo accounts
In February 2017, the US Department of Justice filed charges of stealing data from more than 500 million Yahoo accounts against two FSB officers Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin. The cyberattack took place at the end of 2014. According to the prosecution, the FSB hired two hackers for this. Among the victims of the hack were Russian journalists, government officials from Russia and the United States, and many others.
Author: Ilya Koval
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