Two Russian men, Ruslan Aleksandrovich Peretyatko and Andrey Stanislavovich Korinets, have been charged by the US Department of Justice for hacking into computer networks in several countries on behalf of the Russian government. The men are believed to be members of the Callisto Group, controlled by Russia’s Federal Security Service’s 18th Centre for Information Security. They are accused of launching spear-phishing campaigns to gain unauthorized access to victims’ computers and email accounts. The phishing emails would appear to come from a known contact and would trick recipients into opening a PDF file that would lead them to a phishing page to steal their login credentials. While the chances of the men appearing in a US court are slim, the US and UK governments have announced sanctions against them for their role in the hacking.
Key Points:
1. Two Russian nationals have been charged with hacking into computer networks on behalf of the Russian government.
2. The men are believed to be part of the Callisto Group, controlled by Russia’s Federal Security Service.
3. They launched spear-phishing campaigns, using emails that appeared to come from known contacts, to trick victims into opening PDF files.
4. The PDF files led victims to phishing pages where their login credentials were stolen.
5. The US and UK governments have announced sanctions against the men for their involvement in the hacking.