In more recent years, Russia has been behind some of the most sophisticated cyberattacks on record.

websites during the Kosovo conflict, portending Russia’s extensive use of disruptive and damaging cyberattacks. Levin tried to steal more than US$10 million by hacking Citibank accounts, foreshadowing Russia’s prominence in cybercrime. The 1990s also saw the arrest of Vladimir Levin, a computer operator in St. military and other government computers, foretelling the massive espionage from Russia today.

The hacker was after military secrets, downloading documents with important keywords such as “nuclear.” A lengthy investigation, described in Stoll’s book “ The Cuckoo’s Egg,” led to a German hacker who was selling the stolen data to what was then the Soviet Union.īy the late 1990s, Russian cyberespionage had grown to include the multi-year “ Moonlight Maze” intrusions into U.S. The Russian cyberthreat dates back to at least 1986 when Cliff Stoll, then a system administrator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, linked a 75-cent accounting error to intrusions into the lab’s computers. Who are these operators, why are they so skilled and what are they up to? Back to the 1980s They’ve engaged in disinformation and disclosed pilfered information such as the emails stolen from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, following successful spearphishing attacks. They’ve shut down electricity in Ukraine and meddled in elections in the U.S. Over decades, Russian operators have stolen terabytes of data, taken control of millions of computers and raked in billions of dollars. Some of the most talented and dangerous cybercrooks and cyberwarriors come from Russia, which is a longtime meddler in other countries’ affairs.

Beyond carrying all of our phone, text and internet communications, cyberspace is an active battleground, with cybercriminals, government agents and even military personnel probing weaknesses in corporate, national and even personal online defenses.

Russian hacking sites