The European Union high representative has formally linked Russia to a recent hack-and-leak operation tracked as Ghostwriter.
- The EU blames Russia for the GhostWriter hacking activities that target high-profile EU officials, journalists, and the general public.
- The GhostWriter campaign has been ongoing since March 2017 and is aligned with Russian security interests.
The European Union high representative has formally linked Russia to a recent hack-and-leak operation tracked as Ghostwriter.
“Some EU Member States have observed malicious cyber activities, collectively designated as Ghostwriter, and associated these with the Russian state,” reads the announcement published by the European Union.
“These malicious cyber activities are targeting numerous members of Parliaments, government officials, politicians, and members of the press and civil society in the EU by accessing computer systems and personal accounts and stealing data.”
In earlier August, security experts from FireEye discovered a disinformation campaign directed at discrediting NATO by circulating fake news content on compromised news websites.
According to the report published by FireEye, the operations have primarily targeted audiences in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, in a campaign that has continued throughout 2021.
Among the group’s most infamous attacks last year was an attempt to distribute a forged letter from the NATO Secretary-General to Lithuania’s Defense Ministry purporting to announce the withdrawal of NATO troops from the country.
Unlike other disinformation campaigns, GhostWriter doesn’t spread through social networks; instead, threat actors behind this campaign abused compromised content management systems (CMS) of news websites or spoofed email accounts to disseminate fake news.
Instead of creating new posts, the attackers replaced existing legitimate articles on the sites with fake content.
The attackers were spreading fabricated content, including falsified news articles, quotes, correspondence, and other documents designed to appear from military officials and political figures in the target countries.
“The European Union and its Member States strongly denounce these malicious cyber activities, which all involved must put to an end immediately. We urge the Russian Federation to adhere to the norms of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace.” concludes the announcement. “The European Union will revert to this issue in upcoming meetings and consider taking further steps.”
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