UK and EU Strike Russian Cyber Networks with New Sanctions
UK and EU Strike Russian Cyber Networks with New Sanctions 🚀
New sanctions target the Russian state’s persistent and increasingly reckless attempts to sow chaos and division across Europe. The UK and EU have hit back with the first joint cyber sanctions package, attributing Russia’s cyber-attack on Poland to these actions.
The sanctions focus on 24 individuals and entities responsible for orchestrating cyber-attacks, interfering in elections, and spreading malicious anti-Ukraine narratives across Europe. This includes sanctioning senior leadership figures from the GRU, such as Vyacheslav Stafeyev, Ivan Senin, and Ivan Kasyanenko, for their roles in directing cyber and hybrid threat operations.
The GRU Unit 29155 cyber division collaborated with cybercriminals, including the company IMPULS, to recruit hackers and specialists from universities across Russia. Additionally, the UK, together with EU member states, is attributing the attack on Poland’s energy grid to Russia’s FSB Centre 16. This reckless attack, which failed, could have left 500,000 citizens without electricity in the depths of winter.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated: “These sanctions strike at the core of the cybercriminal networks propping up the Russian state’s aggression, sending a clear message that Russia cannot hide behind its use of these proxy groups.”
The UK is also sanctioning individuals behind Lumma Stealer, a tool that enables cybercriminals to collect sensitive information from compromised devices at scale. Russia has reportedly used stolen credentials from Lumma Stealer to conduct cyber espionage operations globally.
New measures also target 10 individuals behind Rybar LLC, a media company resourced by the Russian state, responsible for spreading false narratives about Ukraine and interfering in European elections, including in Moldova and Armenia.