US charges six Russian intelligence agents over ‘destructive’ cyberattacks

The US charged six current and former members of Russia’s military intelligence agency for allegedly carrying out some of the world’s most destructive and sophisticated hacking attacks from 2015 to 2019, including knocking out Ukraine’s power grid and causing almost $1 billion in damages to three American companies alone.

The hackers allegedly carried out attacks against the 2017 elections in France and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, according to an indictment unsealed by the Justice Department on Monday.

“Their computer attacks used some of the world’s most destructive malware to date,” the department said.