Russian hackers -- they're everywhere. Not even those in the the pope's camp are safe from them, according to a new report. And yes: Thatpope.
While the narrative surrounding Russian hacking efforts has centered mostly around the 2016 U.S. election, a new report published by cybersecurity firm Secureworks and obtained by the Associated Press shows hackers also targeted figures like John Kerry, Colin Powell, a member of the Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot, and -- gasp! -- a representative of the Pope Francis, based in Kiev.
SEE ALSO:Russian Facebook trolls pushed for race-based violenceAccording to the AP, the list shows hackers, aligned with the Russian government, who attempted to bust into around 4,700 Gmail accounts (leaving one to wonder why a representative for the pope even usesGmail).
Secureworks, who generated the report, compiled the list of targets of the hacking collective Fancy Bear, collected over a 15-month period between March 2015 and May 2016. Accounts in the United States and Ukraine were the top two targets by the collective, with Russia and Georgia (yes, the country) also being targeted.
John Kerry, then Secretary of State, and Colin Powell were among the top targets of Fancy Bear stateside, reports the AP, as were U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove and U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark, who mounted a short campaign for the presidency in 2004.
There was also a clear pattern into who was targeted, according to the AP.
The list skewed toward workers for defense contractors such as Boeing, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin or senior intelligence figures, prominent Russia watchers and — especially — Democrats. More than 130 party workers, campaign staffers and supporters of the party were targeted, including [Clinton campaign chair John] Podesta and other members of Clinton’s inner circle.
In Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko and his son were targets of Fancy Bear, as well as another government official that should raise eyebrows for anyone interested in the ongoing Mueller investigation here in the U.S.
...Serhiy Leshchenko, an opposition parliamentarian who helped uncover the off-the-books payments allegedly made to Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort — whose indictment was unsealed Monday in Washington.
If you've heard of Fancy Bear before, it's for good reason. The group is believed to be an arm of Russia's military intelligence wing and is one of two groups, along with Cozy Bear, believed to have hacked in the DNC, targeting the groups opposition files.
Fancy Bear is also believed to be behind the hack of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which led to the leak of medical records for a slew of top athletes, including Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.
The entire in-depth report by the AP, including how Secureworks tracked down the targets via a Bit.ly link Fancy Bear used to circumvent Gmail's spam filter, is worth a read, especially as Mueller and company continue to untangle the Russian web of influence.
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