Britain says Russia's military intelligence is behind numerous cyber attacks around the world

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain on Thursday accused Russian military intelligence of spearheading a series of cyber-attacks aimed at undermining Western democracies by confusing everything from sport to transport. going through the 2016 US presidential election.

In a British assessment based on the work of its National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC), Russian military intelligence (GRU) has been described as a pernicious cyber-aggressor who used a network of hackers to spread discord around the world.

According to Great Britain, GRU was probably at the origin of the 2017 attacks by the BadRabbit and the World Anti-Doping Agency, the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in 2016 and the theft of e-mails. a British television channel in 2015.

"The actions of the GRU are irresponsible and blind: they are trying to undermine the elections in other countries and to ingest them in their elections," said British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

"Our message is clear: with our allies, we will expose and respond to GRU's attempts to undermine international stability," Hunt said. Britain thinks the Russian government is responsible for the attacks.

Although less known than the powerful KGB of the Soviet Union, the intelligence service of the Russian army played a major role in some of the most important events of the last century, ranging from the Cuban missile crisis to annexation. of Crimea.

CYBER POWER RUSSIA?

Although generally known by the acronym GRU, which refers to the Main Directorate of Intelligence, its name was officially changed in 2010 to become the Main Directorate of the General Staff (or simply GU). Its former acronym – GRU – is even more widely used.

It has agents around the world and reports directly to the Russian Chief of the Defense Staff and Minister of Defense. The GRU does not comment publicly on its actions. Its structure, its workforce and its financing are Russian state secrets.

The GRU traces its history back to the time of Ivan the Terrible, although it was created as the Directorate of Registration in 1918 after the Bolshevik Revolution. Vladimir Lenin insisted on his independence from other secret services.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the GRU officers had used a nervous agent to try to kill former double agent Sergei Skripal, found unconscious in Salisbury, England, in March. Russia has repeatedly denied the accusations.

After the poisoning of Skripal, the West subscribed to Britain's assessment that Russian military intelligence was to blame and launched the largest expulsion of Russian spies operating under diplomatic cover since the heyday of the Cold War.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, himself a former KGB spy, said on Wednesday that Skripal, a GRU officer who had betrayed dozens of British MI6 spy agents, was a "fool" who had betrayed Russia.

Britain said the GRU was associated with many hackers, including APT 28, Fancy Bear, Sofacy, Pawnstorm, Sednit, CyberCaliphate, Cyber ​​Berkut, Voodoo Bear and BlackEnergy Actors.

"This type of behavior demonstrates their willingness to act without respect for international law or established norms, and with a sense of impunity and without consequences," said Foreign Minister Hunt.

The United States sanctioned GRU officers, including its leader, Igor Korobov, in 2016 and 2018 for attempting to interfere in the 2016 US election and for cyberattacks.

"The Intelligence Directorate (GRU), a Russian military intelligence organization, is knowingly conducting significant cyber security activities on behalf of the Russian government," the US Treasury said in March.