The on-again-off-again USA-Russia rivalry has taken a shocking turn. U.S. officials claim that Russian hackers are trying to hack into several State Government-owned networks. Unfortunately, the hackers were partially successful as they managed to retract information from two such servers. This incident has put the U.S. Nation Security on high-alert. U.S. intelligence officials believe that Russia and Iran have obtained voter registration information through the hack. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but everyone is certainly more vigilant now. The source of the leak is also unknown.
Berserk Bear or Dragonfly
During investigations, U.S. agencies reportedly mentioned a Russian group called Berserk Bear or Dragonfly. They claimed that the group was after several local, tribal, state, and territorial branches of the U.S. government. The lengthy list also includes aviation networks. Further, the FBI and Homeland Security Department have cast some light on a Russian actor, who conducted a campaign to target the country. He has been trying to target the United States since September 2020.
Russian and Iranian foul-play
The U.S. Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, believes that Russia and Iran are trying to interfere with the Presidential elections. He revealed that Russia has already obtained a few voters’ information, and Iran sent spoof emails to confuse users. These hacks are not new. Previously, in 2016, U.S. agencies had learned that hackers, allegedly working for the Russian military intelligence, accessed emails of various U.S. Democrats and other political figures to expose them.Â
Actions are taken by the Government
Contacting the Russian embassy with the concerns turned out to be a waste of time as they claimed the accusations to be groundless. The U.S. Treasury Department responded on Thursday by issuing sanctions against five Iranian entities for attempting to influence elections in the United States, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
It is still unknown whether the Government was able to contain the two hacks. Russia’s and Iran’s intentions behind these actions are still unknown. U.S. Government did not mention if this attempt from the rival nations will disrupt elections of the government’s business. However, they haven’t ruled out the possibility of such a motive in the future. Officials are staying as vigilant as they possibly can.
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