Russian hackers tried to attack former US ambassador to Ukraine
Illustrative photo (Freepik)
Hackers with ties to the Kremlin attempted to hack the email of former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Steven Pifer, according to Bloomberg.
According to a report by researchers from Access Now and Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, since February, cybercriminals have been trying to steal passwords from former US government officials and academics, as well as prominent Russian opposition figures and media organizations.
The hackers impersonated another former diplomat in an effort to deceive Pifer, who served as the US Ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000. They aimed to trick him into entering his credentials on a fake website. It remains unclear whether the attackers succeeded in breaching Pifer's email account.
The report says that the hackers are part of a group known as Cold River. Western governments and cybersecurity firms have previously linked Cold River to Russia's FSB.
In December, the US. and UK governments accused Cold River of involvement in multiple cyber-espionage campaigns.
Recent hacker attacks
Earlier, The Washington Post reported that Iranian hackers might have breached the emails of staffers from US presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign and attacked computers belonging to advisors to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Additionally, a recent Google report revealed that Iran conducted a prolonged phishing campaign targeting around a dozen individuals connected to Biden, Harris, and Trump.
The FBI has reportedly launched an investigation into the hacking of US presidential campaign staff by foreign actors.
