Six GRU officers from Russia’s military intelligence service, who were indicted by the US Department of Justice on Monday for cyber attacks, also “looked” into the computers of the organizers of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
It has already been reported that the US Department of Justice announced on Monday that charges were filed against six GRU officers of the Russian military intelligence service for cyber attacks on the Ukrainian power grid, the French elections in 2017 and the Winter Olympics in South Korea in 2018.
Six former and current GRU military personnel have also been accused of a malicious attack on NotPetya, which has cost companies around the world more than a billion dollars. NotPetya has been used for cyber attacks in France, Georgia, the Netherlands, South Korea, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.
They have also carried out attacks on the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skrippa and his daughter, as well as the media and the Georgian parliament, as well as several US hospitals.
Six types of charges have been brought against the six perpetrators, including damage to protected computers and increased identity theft. The intelligence officers were members of the Sandworm group.
One of the accused is Anatoly Kovalev, who was caught interfering in the 2016 US presidential election. Assistant Attorney General John Demers has previously stated that six GRU officers are responsible for “the most devastating series of computer attacks ever attributed to a single group.”
However, shortly after the announcement by the US Department of Justice, the British government announced that GRU officers had also carried out an intelligence attack on the computers of the organizers of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. It happened shortly before the four-year event was postponed for a year.
The attacks are against the logistics plans of Tokyo’s game organizers, as well as sponsors.
The REUTERS news agency reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the allegations “Russophobia”. In a conversation with the media, Peskov stressed that Russia had never organized cyber attacks against the Olympic movement.
Meanwhile, the organizers ‘spokeswoman Masa Takaja revealed that the organizers’ digital platforms have to defend themselves from cyber attacks from time to time, but important information about the criminals has not been obtained.
Britain has already sentenced six hackers. Sanctions will be developed with the European Union’s partner countries, which will include travel restrictions. The financial resources of the accused will also be frozen.
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