US Charges Four Russian Spies for Hacking Saudi Oil Facility and US Nuclear Power Plant

The U.S. Department of Justice has announced charges against four Russian government employees for a years-long hacking campaign targeting critical infrastructure, including a U.S. nuclear power operator and a Saudi petrochemical facility. From a report: The first indictment, from June 2021, charges Evgeny Viktorovich Gladkikh, 36, a computer programmer at the Russian Ministry of Defense, and two co-conspirators, of planning to hack industrial control systems -- the critical devices that keep industrial facilities operational -- at global energy facilities. Gladkikh is believed to be behind the infamous Triton malware, which was used to target a petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia in 2017. Hackers used the malware in an attempt to disable safety systems in the plant designed to prevent dangerous conditions that could lead to leaks or explosions. Triton was first linked to Russia in October 2018. Following their failed plot to blow up the Saudi plant, the hackers attempted to hack the computers of a company that managed similar critical infrastructure entities in the U.S, according to the DOJ.

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