France and the European Union officially accuse Russia of having orchestrated a vast campaign of cyberattacks across Europe. Between sabotage of critical infrastructure and espionage, the Russian secret services have increased their offensives. Paris is preparing a response.
France reveals Russian cyberattack targets many European countries. On the set of BFM TVthe Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, indicates that a “vast cyber campaign with the aims of sabotage and espionage” was carried out by Russia in “around ten European countries”.
Ten European nations have been targeted in recent days. France is one of the affected countries. Operations orchestrated by Moscow “target companies, ministries, operators whose objective is to capture information or to sabotage the functioning of railway infrastructure, as in Poland”explains Jean-Noël Barrot. In a press release, France explains “condemn with the greatest firmness the cyber attacks carried out on its territory by Russia against its strategic interests”.
Also read: Russian cyberattacks in Europe – the Netherlands disconnects more than 800 servers used by hackers
Russian secret services in the viewfinder
Mirroring France, the European Union has publicly pointed the finger at Russia. In a press release, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, reveals that “Germany, Poland, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Romania and Finland” are also among the countries victims of a Russian cyberattack. According to sources interviewed by France Infothe operations were carried out by the FSB (Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation), namely Russia’s main internal security and intelligence service.
“For years, the FSB has carried out cyberattacks of increasing scale, affecting the EU, its member states and international partners, including Ukraine. These activities include infiltration of government networks and sabotage of critical infrastructure”says the EU.
In France, Russia mainly attacked “ministries, entities in the diplomatic, defense, justice and technology sectors”. Russian hackers notably compromised “Internet email accounts of the Ministry of the Armed Forces”and this since 2017. Last year, it was the “information system of an entity working on advanced technologies” which was hacked by Russian spies. The British government also joined France and the European Union in denouncing the misdeeds of Russian hackers. Same story in Germany.
Also read: Nearly 15,000 sites hacked – police bring down “godfather” of fake updates
The counterattack is being prepared
Faced with Russian abuses on its territory, France first committed to summoning the Russian ambassador to France. In parallel, “nine individuals and four entities” will be subject toa series of sanctions. Those responsible for Lumma Stealer, a data-stealing virus, and the Trickbot malware are among the entities targeted.
For its part, the European Union will respond by sanctioning 13 entities “contributing to Russia’s efforts to destabilize the EU”. Furthermore, the German authorities have already spoken with the Russian ambassador on its territory.
👉🏻 Follow tech news in real time: add 01net to your sources on Google, and subscribe to our WhatsApp channel.
