The government has confirmed that Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) is behind a long-running hacking campaign that targeted politicians, civil servants, journalists and civil society organisations.
The Russian campaign targeted high-profile individuals with phishing emails in an attempt to obtain information to interfere with UK politics and the democratic process.
The hacking group, known as Star Blizzard or Seaborgium, has targeted politicians from multiple political parties from 2015 onwards.
The group was also responsible for leaking UK-US trade documents leaked ahead of the 2019 general election.
The Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that the UK wanted to expose Russia’s “malign attempts” to influence British politics.
“Russia’s attempts to interfere in UK politics are completely unacceptable and seek to threaten our democratic processes. Despite their repeated efforts they have failed,” he said.
Foreign Office Minister Leo Docherty told the House of Commons that Russia’s ambassador had been summoned and two Russians including an FSB agent faced financial sanctions.
His comments came as the US State Department offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on members of the hacking group.
Unit 18
Computer Weekly identified the hacking group, which is known as Callisto, ColdRiver, Tag-53, TA446 and BlueCharlie, as an FSB operation in a report last year.
An assessment by the UK’s National Cybersecurity Centre, part of GCHQ confirmed today that Star Blizzard “almost certainly” conducted cyber-attacks under the direction of the FSB’s Unit 18, which specialises in cyber espionage.
The group chooses its targets selectively and engages in thorough research and preparation, including research on social media and networking services, Docherty told the Commons.
They create false identiti ..
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