PARIS (AP) — The French authorities accused a hacking group linked to Russian navy intelligence of cyberattacks over three years, targeting the Paris Olympics, French authorities businesses and corporations.
A report launched Tuesday by France’s cybersecurity company, ANSSI, outlined cyber incidents from 2021 via 2024, which it attributes to a gaggle known as APT28, also called Fancy Bear. The report stated the hacking aimed to gather intelligence, notably within the context of Russia’s battle in Ukraine.
France is amongst Ukraine’s most vocal backers, and its authorities is working to make sure that an eventual US-brokered peace deal doesn’t additional embolden Russia and threaten Europe’s safety.
The French Overseas Ministry stated the hacking was linked to the Russian navy intelligence company GRU, and focused French entities together with a ″sports activities group linked to the planning of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Video games.″ It didn’t determine the group or element the impression of the cyber-meddling.
The cybersecurity company stated different targets included these concerned in aerospace, finance, nationwide authorities ministries and native governments. It did not title them.
Greater than a dozen experiences in 2023 and 2024 pointed to an intensifying effort from Russia to undermine France via disinformation campaigns, significantly the Paris Olympics. Russian athletes’ participation within the Olympics has been curtailed for years due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and state-sponsored doping.
The Russian Embassy in France and the Kremlin have denied any interference within the Paris Olympics.
Responding to the French announcement Monday, Google Menace Intelligence Group chief analyst John Holquist stated in an announcement that “focusing on of the Video games by the GRU was closely anticipated … Although the video games are a potent image of worldwide cooperation, they’re nonetheless the goal of malicious intelligence operations.”
APT28 and the GRU have additionally been linked to world cyber intrusions, together with within the 2016 US election, the place they have been accused of aiding Donald Trump by leaking Democratic Party emails.
The French Overseas Ministry named a particular GRU unit, Unit 20728, as being behind the 2021-2024 cyberattacks. The cybersecurity company report additionally mentions unspecified assaults on entities in Ukraine, elsewhere in Europe and North America.
“These destabilizing actions are unacceptable and unworthy of a everlasting member of the UN Safety Council,” the Overseas Ministry stated in an announcement. “Alongside its companions, France is set to make use of all of the means at its disposal to anticipate, discourage and react to Russia’s malicious habits in our on-line world.”
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Related Press author Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report.
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