Posted on August 27, 2018 at 2:03 PM
Russian Hackers Attacked the US Senate, Microsoft Says
Russian hackers attacked the Senate and conservative expert groups, according to Microsoft’s announcement.
The aim of the Russian hackers was to make users believe that they entered sites managed by American political groups in which they were already familiar and then be redirected to fake websites where they stole their passwords and other data. According to the president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, the sites that were used by Russian hackers were created by a group known as Strontium or, Fancy Bear or APT28, these web domains are linked to a Russian intelligence agency.
In addition, they have been accused of hacking the Democratic National Committee in 2016, in a form of attack known as “spearphishing”. The two institutions affected by this new “round of attacks” are the International Republican Institute and the Hudson Institute.
The announcement from Microsoft also said that Moscow is increasing attack strategies, due to the elections to be held in November this year in the United States.
The action of Russia
The Kremlin immediately rejected all accusations, through its spokesman Dmitry Peskov, saying they did not know “what the pirates are talking about and how they influenced the elections”. I also criticize Microsoft’s action for publishing “serious” information, he said: “We do not understand what the Russian military intelligence agency has to do with this?
What is the basis of such serious accusations?
They should not be disclosed without foundation. Saying also that they received confirmation from the United States that there was no Russian interference in the elections. When the reality is different.
Previous attacks
The US intelligence services confirmed the Russian interference in the 2016 elections with the aim of helping Trump reach the White House. However, at the summit held between the president of the United States and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, generated confusion. Trump gave his vote of confidence to the Kremlin over its own security services.
Donald Trump commented at the joint press conference,
My people, Dan Coats (National Intelligence Director of the United States) and others, came to me and told me they thought it was Russia. President Putin says it is not Russia. I will tell you that I do not see any reason why it should be, but I really want to see the server; I have confidence in both parties.
After an avalanche of criticism from each political sector, President Trump withdrew and assured that his government will avoid further interference in the November legislative.
The solution that Microsoft gave
Microsoft said on Monday it is launching a specialized cybersecurity service called AccountGuard, against the offense to the continued threats of the Russians to American political groups.
This is an initiative that is part of the “Defending Democracy” program that was launched in April of this year.
The company says it will offer this service to each and every candidate and campaign official, as well as to the organizations and groups of experts currently using Microsoft Office 365, at no additional cost and plans to expand the AccountGuard service in several parts of the world.
