The US Department of Justice has charged six Russian officers of the notorious Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) for attempting to undermine 2017 French elections, hacking the 2018 Winter Olympics, and hacking critical infrastructure in Ukraine and Georgia, among other things. The six officers belong to the hacking group infamously known as “Sandworm Team” that has previously been accused by the US of hacking Hilary Clinton’s emails. The British National Cyber Security Centre also announced that the GRU was planning to attack the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as well. The GRU had already conducted cyber reconnaissance against officials and organisations involved with the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games that were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also said that the GRU unit disguised itself as North Korean and Chinese hackers when it attacked the 2018 Winter Olympics. GRU is Russia’s foreign military intelligence, housed within the Russian army. Sandworm Team, or Unit 74455, is a unit within the GRU whose members were previously indicted for hacking and leaking emails of Hilary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee in the run up to the 2016 US Presidential elections. These emails were published on a website called DCLeaks. Microsoft had said that the Sandworm Team had also targeted at least three campaigns during the 2018 midterm elections in the US. The US alleges that these cyber-attacks were carried out “for the strategic benefit of Russia”. In its investigation, the FBI was assisted by Google and its Threat Analysis Group (TAG), Cisco and…
