FBI Launches Investigation into DNC Servers
The FBI on Monday confirmed that it has opened an investigation into allegations that the WikiLeaks email dump of nearly 20,000 Democratic National Committee emails over the weekend might be linked to the Russian Government. Hackers connected to Russian intelligence agencies allegedly have been working to help tilt the United States Presidential Election.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, dropped a bombshell all egation last Sunday, claiming that the hack which embarrassingly revealed coordinated efforts to undermine Bernie Sanders campaign was the work of Russian intelligence, with the intent to aid Trump’s candidacy.
Claiming that the hack was designed to aid Donald Trump’s bid for president by smearing Hillary Clinton and the DNC.
The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes me
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2016
Cybersecurity experts linked the email hack to a number of Russian groups connected to past attempts to infiltrate several U.S. government agencies and private think tanks. This was further corroborated after Guccifer 2.0 a hacker known to have Russian ties took credit for the email dump.
CrowdStrike, however, identified two other suspects — Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear — who have gone after CrowdStrike customers in the past.
Who are they?
Cozy Bear, also known as “CozyDuke” or “Apt 29” in the past has successfully accessed documents from the White House, State Dept., U.S. Joint Chiefs. Even attacking companies involved in defense, energy and other industries.
Utilizing a broad targeting spear phishing campaign with Web links to a malicious site, is a favorite tactic for Cozy Bear, according to CrowdStrike.
Fancy Bear also has a long record of “accomplishments” including attacks since the mid-2000s focusing on aerospace, defense, energy, government and media sectors with victims in countries around the world, including the U.S., Western Europe, Brazil, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and others.
The attack on the DNC likely dates back to 2015; while the Fancy Bear attack happened in April of 2016, evidence exists that the DNC has been compromised for much longer.
With these revelations the FBI is reeling to answer calls against cyberterrorism, as the DNC is attempting to patch their servers. These developments could lead to interesting foreign affairs, especially if the connection to Russia becomes clearer.
