Russia plans to interfere with European Parliament elections: report
PR dla Zagranicy
Tomasz Ferenc
27.02.2019 12:18
Russian hackers have taken over more than 100 e-mail accounts belonging to European think tanks, some of them Polish, in a move aiming to interfere with European Parliament elections, the Gazeta Wyborcza quoted IT giant Microsoft as saying.
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According to the paper, the organisation behind the attack is Strontium, also known as Fancy Bear, and is controlled by Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff (GRU).
The paper added the group also interfered with US elections in 2016.
The attacked think tanks were largely studying the influence of social media on elections and foreign affairs, the paper said.
It added that although Microsoft did not name all the attacked institutions, the company said Fancy Bear has taken over accounts in Poland, Belgium, Germany, Serbia and France, including those belonging to the German Marshall Fund.
Gazeta Wyborcza quoted Karen Donfried, head of the German Marshall Fund, as saying that the attacks "did not come as a surprise," adding that the organisation has experienced similar attacks in the past.
Gazeta Wyborcza reported that Donfried did not reveal if any sensitive data was stolen from the fund’s accounts.
(tf/pk)
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