Britain sanctions 'Kremlin-linked hackers'

Some 24 individuals and entities behind destructive operations have been targeted by the Foreign Office. They include proxy networks connected to Russian intelligence services (FSB).

Those sanctioned include Vyacheslav Stafeyev, Ivan Senin and Ivan Kasyanenko, senior GRU (military intelligence) officials who the Foreign Office said had directed the agency’s cyber and hybrid threat operations .

The EU also said it was imposing restrictive measures on nine individuals and four entities, including GRU officers, self-proclaimed “hacktivists” and cybercriminals, citing “close co-ordination” with the UK.

Both EU member states and the UK attributed a cyberattack on Poland’s energy grid to Russia’s cyber-intelligence unit FSB Centre 16, the Foreign Office said.

It came as the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) published an advisory notice the methods used by FSB’s Centre 16, which is “exploiting vulnerable routers and opportunistically targeting” networks belonging to critical national infrastructure.

The NCSC, which is part of GCHQ, said Centre 16 had been seen “scanning the internet for devices that still use default or weak Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) passwords and community strings”.

Actors have also exploited “well-known vulnerabilities” relating to Cisco devices, Cisco’s Smart Install (SMI) feature and web-portal flaws to gain control of network devices, the NCSC said.

Critical sectors most at risk of being targeted include communications, defence, energy, financial services, government and healthcare. They are being urged to strengthen their online defences against the threat from Moscow by using SNMPv3 – the most secure version of the SNMP – and disabling legacy versions.

Announcing the sanctions package on Monday, Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, said: “These sanctions strike at the core of the cybercriminal networks propping up the Russian state’s aggression, and the UK and EU are sending a clear message that Russia cannot hide behind its use of these proxy groups.

“From directing criminals to targeting businesses, and striking Poland’s energy grid in the depths of winter, the Russian state is sinking to new lows in its attempts to undermine European security.

“Together with our partners, Britain will continue to call out this behaviour, bolster our resilience and respond to the hybrid threat posed by the Russian state. This will not deter us from supporting Ukraine.”