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U.S. CHARGES RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT HACKERS WITH CAMPAIGN OF GLOBAL ENERGY
CYBERATTACKS


JUSTICE DEPARTMENT UNSEALS INDICTMENTS AGAINST FOUR RUSSIANS FOR ALLEGED
INVOLVEMENT IN CYBERATTACKS ON ENERGY-CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Why Ransomware Attacks Are on the Rise and How the U.S. Can Fight Them
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Why Ransomware Attacks Are on the Rise and How the U.S. Can Fight ThemPlay
video: Why Ransomware Attacks Are on the Rise and How the U.S. Can Fight Them

Ransomware attacks are increasing in frequency, victim losses are skyrocketing,
and hackers are shifting their targets. WSJ’s Dustin Volz explains why these
attacks are on the rise and what the U.S. can do to fight them. Photo
illustration: Laura Kammermann
By Dustin Volz

and Aruna Viswanatha

Updated Mar. 24, 2022 6:48 pm ET

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WASHINGTON—The Justice Department on Thursday unsealed charges against four
Russian nationals it accused of carrying out a yearslong hacking campaign that
targeted thousands of computers in the U.S. and around the world in a bid to
gain access to systems that could disrupt or physically damage vital energy
facilities.

The defendants all worked for the Russian government and targeted hundreds of
companies in 135 countries, U.S. authorities said.

The indictments cover alleged activity that took place between 2012 and 2018,
officials said. In recent weeks the Biden administration has repeatedly warned
U.S. businesses, including energy companies, that they should be on high alert
for the potential of debilitating Russian cyberattacks that could occur as a
form of retaliation from the Kremlin for the punishing economic sanctions put in
place against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

“Russian state-sponsored hackers pose a serious and persistent threat to
critical infrastructure both in the United States and around the world,” Lisa
Monaco, deputy attorney general, said on Thursday. “Although the criminal
charges unsealed today reflect past activity, they make crystal clear the urgent
ongoing need for American businesses to harden their defenses and remain
vigilant.”


Ransomware attacks are increasing in frequency, victim losses are skyrocketing,
and hackers are shifting their targets. WSJ’s Dustin Volz explains why these
attacks are on the rise and what the U.S. can do to fight them. Photo
illustration: Laura Kammermann



Russia has historically denied targeting the U.S. or others with cyberattacks. A
spokesman at the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., didn’t immediately respond
to a request for comment.

Much of the hacking activity mentioned in the two separate indictments unsealed
Thursday had previously been detected by private-sector cybersecurity firms and
linked to Russia, but the charging documents contain new information about the
size, severity and duration of the alleged campaign.

One case, filed in June 2021 but unsealed Thursday, accused an alleged employee
of a Russian Ministry of Defense research institute, Evgeny Gladkikh, of
targeting and damaging a foreign refinery with malware known as “Triton” that
could shut down its safety system designed by Schneider Electric. The malware
caused the refinery’s safety systems to initiate two automatic emergency
shutdowns of operations, prosecutors said, without naming the refinery or its
location.

U.S. cybersecurity researchers have previously linked Triton, which was
discovered in 2017, to an attack on a Saudi petrochemical plant. In that attack,
a safety shut-off system considered critical to defending against catastrophic
events was disrupted and taken offline, prompting an investigation that
identified the malware. The Trump administration in 2020 sanctioned a Russian
government research institution it said was responsible for launching the
attacks on critical infrastructure of U.S. allies in the Middle East.

According to the new indictment, Mr. Gladkikh worked in 2018 with others to
similarly target a “U.S.-based company’s similar facilities,” but was
unsuccessful in doing so. The methods and tools the group used showed that its
goal wasn’t just to cause a shutdown, but to “gain the capability to prevent
safety systems from functioning and to cause physical damage to the refinery,
with potentially catastrophic effects,” the indictment said.

A second case, from August, accuses three alleged officers of Russia’s
intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, or FSB, of compromising
computers at hundreds of companies in the energy sector in a way that would give
the Kremlin access to the systems to disrupt them in the future should they
choose to, prosecutors said.

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The three alleged FSB hackers, Pavel Akulov, Mikhail Gavrilov, and Marat Tyukov,
sought access to the computer networks of oil and gas firms, nuclear power
plants, and utility and power transmission companies, including by targeting the
software and hardware that controls equipment in power generation facilities,
prosecutors said.

U.S. officials said the alleged hacks by the Russian government could have
disrupted or paralyzed the delivery of energy services to homes, hospitals and
businesses.

Prosecutors described the hacking campaign as widespread and almost
indiscriminate—a volley of attempted intrusions that targeted thousands of
computers at hundreds of different companies in about 135 countries. It wasn’t
clear how many companies the hackers successfully compromised.

U.S. officials also linked the FSB hackers to a military unit known as Center
16, a group of hackers who have been tracked by various cybersecurity companies
for several years and given a number of monikers, including Energetic Bear and
Dragonfly.



The Wall Street Journal in 2019 reconstructed details of the Russian hacks
targeting U.S. utilities. Some of the utilities, most of which are relatively
small, are located near dams, locks and other critical infrastructure. The
intrusions were part of what officials and experts considered to be the worst
known hack in the U.S. power system and included attacks on hundreds of small
contractors, the Journal reported.

A senior Justice Department official declined to comment on what current
activity Russian hackers were engaging in amid the continuing war in Ukraine,
but said “the conduct alleged in these indictments are the kind we are concerned
about” in the current geopolitical environment.

The indictments, the official said, reveal “the dark art of the possible when it
comes to critical infrastructure.”

On Monday, President Biden said there was “evolving intelligence” that the
Russian government was potentially planning to target the U.S. with severe
cyberattacks “as a response to the unprecedented economic costs we’ve imposed on
Russia alongside our allies and partners.”

In addition to the charges, U.S. agencies on Thursday released an advisory with
technical details about the intrusion campaigns and urged companies to take the
threat seriously.

The British government also joined the U.S. in attributing the hacking to Russia
and said U.K. energy companies had been targeted, adding that it was designating
a Russian defense ministry department linked to the Triton attacks for
sanctions.

John Hultquist, vice president of intelligence analysis at the U.S.-based
cybersecurity firm Mandiant, said Thursday’s charges involved two of Russia’s
most dangerous hacking squads, which his company has been warning businesses for
months should be among their top concerns during the Ukraine conflict.

The Dragonfly hackers have “gone after critical spaces again and again and again
for a decade,” Mr. Hultquist said, adding that their targets in the U.S.
included nuclear, water, oil and gas, critical manufacturing and aviation.

In many cases the hackers burrowed deep into U.S. networks and remained
undetected for a long time. In some cases they may still have access to critical
systems today that could be weaponized given the Ukraine conflict, Mr. Hultquist
said.

“The question is always when will they pull the trigger?” Mr. Hultquist said.
“And we are in a situation now where they may be in that contingency.”

Write to Dustin Volz at dustin.volz@wsj.com and Aruna Viswanatha at
Aruna.Viswanatha@wsj.com

Appeared in the March 25, 2022, print edition as 'U.S. Files Hacking Charges
Against Russians'.

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