Ukrainian hackers say they compromised a Russian spy who hacked Democrats in 2016

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) – Ukrainian hackers declare to have damaged into the emails of a senior Russian army spy needed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for overshadowing the marketing campaign of Hillary Clinton and different senior US Democrats earlier than Donald Trump’s presidential election hacked in 2016.

In a message posted to Telegram on Monday, a gaggle calling itself Cyber ​​Resistance mentioned it stole the correspondence of Lt. Col. Sergey Morgachev, who was accused in 2018 of serving to manage the hack and e-mail leak Helped mails from the Democratic Nationwide Committee (DNC). and the Clinton marketing campaign.

Reuters wasn’t instantly capable of totally verify the declare, however a few of Morgachev’s alleged private info – which the hackers shared with Ukrainian publication InformNapalm – matches beforehand leaked knowledge stored by cybersecurity analysis platform Constella Intelligence turn out to be.

Stefan Soesanto, a researcher on the Swiss Federal Institute of Know-how in Zurich who has been learning Ukrainian hacker teams, mentioned the leak “appears to be like fairly credible,” noting that InformNapalm has previously cross-checked knowledge obtained from hackers.

In an article in regards to the breach, InformNapalm mentioned it confirmed Morgachev’s identification by digging via personnel recordsdata and a resume stolen by the hackers, together with a doc figuring out him as a division head in Unit 26165 — the identical place the FBI has accused him of has to maintain 2018.

Repeated messages left to e-mail addresses and a telephone quantity mentioned to belong to Morgachev have gone unanswered, and makes an attempt by Reuters to hint him through social media and his present office – allegedly the sanctioned Particular Know-how Heart in Saint Petersburg attain weren’t answered instantly efficiently. The Russian embassy in Washington didn’t instantly reply with messages; neither does the FBI.

It wasn’t instantly clear what info the hackers had stolen or how important it was. Morgachev’s inbox might doubtlessly comprise insights into Russia’s hacking operations, together with the operation in opposition to Clinton and the Democrats.

In its indictment, the FBI described him as an officer within the Russian army espionage company, nonetheless recognized by the outdated acronym GRU. His division is “devoted to growing and managing malware,” together with the X-Agent spy software program that was used to hack the DNC.

Reuters couldn’t instantly find the contact info of the Cyber ​​Resistance group – one in all a number of Ukrainian hacker gangs which have gained worldwide visibility since Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine final yr.

Of their assertion in regards to the theft, the group mentioned of Morgachev, “A really cool and intelligent hacker, however…we hacked him.”

Reporting by Raphael Satter; Enhancing by Hugh Lawson

Our requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.

Raphael Satter

Thomson Reuters

Reporter on cyber safety, surveillance and disinformation for Reuters. The work included investigations into state-sponsored espionage, deepfake-driven propaganda, and mercenary hacking.

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