Two Russian spies are among four individuals indicted by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) over a huge theft of Yahoo user accounts.
The members of the FSB, the Russian intelligence agency, conspired with criminal hackers, according to DOJ officials announcing the charges.
Previously, Yahoo said “state-sponsored” hackers were behind the 2014 breach affecting 500 million accounts.
One suspect was arrested on 14 March in Canada.
Targets of the hacking allegedly orchestrated by the four included security personnel, diplomats and journalists.
The indictment also alleged that 30 million Yahoo accounts were commandeered without authorisation for use in a spam campaign.
“We will not allow individuals, groups, nation states, or a combination of them to compromise the privacy of our citizens, the economic interests of our companies, or the security of our country,” said acting attorney general Mary McCord, announcing the charges.
One of the alleged hackers has been one of the FBI’s most wanted cyber criminals for more than three years, according to Att Gen McCord.
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The suspects were named in a DOJ press release as:
- Dmitry Aleksandrovich Dokuchaev, 33, a Russian national and resident
- Igor Anatolyevich Sushchin, 43, a Russian national and resident
- Alexsey Alexseyevich Belan, 29, a Russian national and resident
- Karim Baratov, 22, a Canadian and Kazakh national and a resident of Canada
The DOJ said that the charges have no connection to the hack on the Democratic National Convention last year.
- Discussion
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Two Russian spies indicted by US Department of Justice over hacking of 500m Yahoo user accounts https://t.co/cQMar4HUYp
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 15, 2017
Whoa. DOJ says Russian FSB officers "protected, directed, facilitated, and paid" hackers behind the massive breach of Yahoo user accounts pic.twitter.com/nP8PHUcPn9
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) March 15, 2017
These officers are in the FSB unit that is the FBI's point of contact in Moscow for cybercrime
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) March 15, 2017
Yahoo hacking was "done with the backing of a nation state," US Justice Dept. national security official asserts – @PeteWilliamsNBC
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) March 15, 2017
DOJ is charging Russian spies, members of Putin's FSB, with massive Yahoo hack https://t.co/IOfGD7Yen7 pic.twitter.com/a2OZzH0W06
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 15, 2017
DOJ: Russian FSB officers, Putin's spies, "protected, directed, facilitated & paid" hackers to break into U.S. companies & steal information pic.twitter.com/BF8C7laXKO
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 15, 2017
Yahoo hackers went after journalists, gov officials, cybersecurity experts, private equity firms, a Swiss bitcoin wallet, a U.S. airline…. pic.twitter.com/EkMTsKIiGB
— Adam Janofsky (@AdamJanofsky) March 15, 2017
And what a file it is: 39pp with details on targeting, tradecraft, & tasking in the evasive crime-intelligence nexus https://t.co/o0KBOAvWOM pic.twitter.com/ttUQpSdB8n
— Thomas Rid (@RidT) March 15, 2017
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