The oil firm Burisma sits at the center of the Venn diagram of two of the Kremlin's hacking obsessions: It's in Ukraine, Russia's favorite playground for all manner of cyberattacks. And it's at the core of a political controversy that might further divide the US and aid Donald Trump's reelection campaign. All of that makes Burisma an almost inevitable target for another hack-and-leak operation of the sort that Russia carried out against the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign in 2016—once again with the goal of influencing a US election.
Now the first evidence has surfaced, in a report from security firm Area 1, that the very same team of Russian hackers who hit those targets may in fact have hacked Burisma. If so, the next step in the Kremlin playbook is very likely another round of selectively leaked documents aimed at swaying the 2020 election result. The possibility raises a tough question: Did the US learn anything from the last round? Or are voters—and the media—as susceptible as ever to a well-executed Russian influence operation?
On Monday evening, The New York Times reported, citing Area 1, that the hacking group known as Fancy Bear or APT28 targeted Burisma with a phishing campaign that began in November, just as the company found itself at the center of a political maelstrom. Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden's son Hunter served on its board until last year, and Trump's impeachment has centered around allegations that he russia hacked burisma brace leaks follow
