The U.S. Department of Justice announces charges on Thursday against four Russian nationals—three of which were government spies—in a pair of hacking campaigns in the U.S., including the hacking of a nuclear power plant in Kansas.
One indictment specifically charges Russian nationals Pavel Aleksandrovich Akulov, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gavrilov and Marat Valeryevich Tyukov with a series of computer intrusions and supply chain attacks between 2012 and 2017. Prosecutors said Gavrilov, Valeryevich and Tyukov are all members of Russia’s government spy agency—the Federal Security Service (FSB)—and worked in a hacking team called Military Unit 71330 or “Center 16.” All four Russians remain at large.
Prosecutors said Gavrilov, Valeryevich and Tyukov’s hacking efforts were “in furtherance of the Russian government’s efforts to maintain surreptitious, unauthorized and persistent access to the computer networks of companies and organizations in the international energy sector, including oil and gas firms, nuclear power plants, and utility and power transmission companies.”…read more
Hungary’s Orban criticized for ‘neutrality’ in Ukraine war
Widely seen as Putin’s closest ally in the European Union, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has sought to assert Hungary’s neutrality in the war in Ukraine, even as his allies in the EU and NATO assist the Kiev and punish Russia.
Orban, who faces a difficult election on April 3, has refused to supply Ukraine with military aid—alone among Ukraine’s EU neighbors—and has not allowed lethal weapons to be shipped to Ukraine across Hungary’s borders.
Arguing that providing such assistance to Ukraine would draw Hungary into the war, Orban has portrayed himself as the defender of his country’s peace and security while insisting that EU sanctions against Russia not be extended to its energy sector, of which Hungary is a major beneficiary.
“The answer to the question of which side Hungary is on is that Hungary is on Hungary’s side,” Orban wrote Saturday (March 26) on social media.
