U.S. charges 6 Russian military officers in ‘most destructive’ hacking attacks in history

WASHINGTON, DC — Six Russian military officers sought to disrupt through computer hacking the French election, the Winter Olympics and U.S. businesses, according to a U.S. Justice Department indictment unsealed Monday that details attacks on a broad range of political, financial and athletic targets.

The indictment also accuses the defendants, all alleged officers in the Russian military agency known as the GRU, in destructive attacks on Ukraine’s power grid and in a hack-and-leak effort directed at the political party of French President Emmanuel Macron during the 2017 election.

According to the Justice Department, several members of the group were previously charged for their role in Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, though the allegations in Monday’s indictment do not relate to U.S. election interference.

U.S. officials at a press conference at DOJ described the hacking campaign as “the most destructive and costly cyber-attacks in history,” dealing with “some of the world’s most destructive malware to date.”

Some of the malware deployed by the officers included Killdisk, Industroyer and NotPetya, which caused nearly $1 billion in losses to three victims named in the indictment including a health care system and pharmaceutical manufacturer.