2024-10-08 07:45:35
The United States announced on Thursday the seizure of 41 Internet domains allegedly used by Russian intelligence agents to try to access computers and email accounts of the Pentagon, the State Department and employees in other government entities.
“The Russian government operated this scheme to steal sensitive US information, using seemingly legitimate email accounts, and trick its victims into revealing their account credentials,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.
According to the Department of Justice, the seized domains were used as part of “a sophisticated ongoing campaign to propagate phishing (fraudulent sites that pretend to be authentic)” by the so-called “Callisto Group,” an operational unit within Center 18 within the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
Among the targets of the hack were companies based in the United States, former employees of the US intelligence community, former and current officials of the Department of Defense, employees of the Department of State and the Department of Energy.
The Justice Department said that Microsoft had simultaneously filed a civil action to seize 66 domains allegedly used by “Callisto Group,” which the computer giant calls “Star Blizzard.”
Microsoft assured that between January 2023 and August 2024 “Star Blizzard” attacked more than 30 civil society organizations – journalists, think tanks or NGOs – with phishing campaigns.
Two alleged members of “Grupo Callisto” were indicted by US authorities in December and charged with hacking networks in the United States, the United Kingdom, other NATO countries and Ukraine.
Both suspects are believed to be in Russia.
© Agence France-Presse