A Russian hack targeted USAID, a human rights group, Microsoft says Cybercrime News

The vice president of the corporate tech giant said a quarter of those targeted have been involved in development, human rights and humanitarian work.

The Russian hackers behind SolarWinds cyberattackA huge campaign that saw widespread hacking by several federal agencies in the United States has launched a new round of attacks aimed at “government agencies, think tanks, consultants and non-governmental organizations,” according to Microsoft.

This week’s wave of attacks by the Nobelium group has targeted about 3,000 email accounts from more than 150 organizations in 24 countries, and most of the attack has been directed at the U.S., Tom Burt, vice president of the tech giant, wrote in a blog post. Thursday.

It is noteworthy that the Russian group had access to an e-mail marketing account used by the State Department’s international aid agency, USAID, from which it was directed to other organizations.

The New York Times reported that the offense appears to target groups of groups that have exposed Russian attacks on dissidents or had a voice about the alleged situation. poisoning Alexey Navalny is a prominent figure in the Russian opposition.

“At least a quarter of the target organizations worked in international development, humanitarian and human rights,” Burt wrote.

“This is another example of how cyberattacks have become an optional tool for many political goals for a growing number of nation-states, with the Nobel being the focus of these attacks on human rights and humanitarian organizations.”

The U.S. government has explicitly linked the SolarWinds attack to Russia’s intelligence service, SVR, and impose penalties 32 Russian entities and diplomats expelled in April. The agency also allegedly participated in the hacking of the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

After being undetected for months, private security company FireWe identified a breakdown in SolarWinds in December, highlighting the greater sophistication of the operation by naming a U.S. company that develops software to manage the system for use in businesses and organizations.

The breaches in the Department of the Treasury, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the Department of Commerce, among other agencies, caused shock waves through the U.S. intelligence community.

Microsoft President Brad Smith previously said the SolarWinds hack is “the biggest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen.”

The Russian intelligence chief has denied responsibility for the breach, but said he is “flattered” by allegations made by the US and the UK that Russia’s foreign intelligence was behind this sophisticated cyber operation.