Britain: GRU cyber attacks across the West

A report on British national security found that Russia's Military Intelligence Agency (GRU) is the devastating cyber-racial “ <x1x2>, which uses a hacker network to spread disagreement and confusion worldwide.

The GRU, said the report, certainly stands behind the attack with software “BadRabbit”, last year, to an international airport in Ukraine, as well as to the piracy of the World Anti-Doping Agency in Switzerland.

The British Government report also found that the GRU stands behind the piracy of e-mails of the National Committee of the Democratic Party in the United States, which hurt US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The latter was defeated by Republican Donald Trump in the 2016 elections.

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“The actions of the GRU agency are reckless: they try to undermine and intervene in elections, clearly attacking Western democracy”, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said.

Our “message is clear: along with our allies, we will expose and respond to GRU's efforts to undermine international stability”, he said.

The British report said GRU is linked to a host of hackers involved in high profile attacks and known to names such as APT 28, Fancy Bear, Sofy, Storm hostage, Seyber calyphate, Cyber Berk, Voodoo Bear and BlackEnergy Act.

“This pattern of behavior shows their desire to act regardless of international law or established standards and with the sense of impunity”, Hunt said.

The United States has already accused the GRU of cyber attacks before the 2016 presidential elections and sanctioned its officials, including chief Igor Coobov for their alleged actions.

The United States Treasury has said in March that GRU “consciously engages in activities that harm cyber security, in the name of the Russian government”.

Although under-recognised by the KGB, the Soviet Union's spying agency GRU played a major role in some of the biggest events during the past century, from the Cuban missile crisis in 1960 to the annexation of the Ukrainian Crime Peninsula in 2014.

GRU has agents all over the globe and directly answers to the chief of general staff and Russian Defence Minister. GRU does not comment publicly on its actions. The facility, staff number and funding are Russian state secrets.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said that GRU officers stand behind the attempt to kill former Russian agent Sergei Scripal, and his daughter with a nervous agent in the English town of Sallsbury in March. Russia has denied the charges.