Russia Accused of Hacking, Interfering in UK Politics

Facts

• The UK Foreign Office has summoned the country’s Russian ambassador and has sanctioned two alleged members of the Russian Security Service’s (FSB) 'Star Blizzard' group, following accusations that Moscow had hacked the private conversations of British politicians and civil servants.¹
• Leo Docherty, a minister in the Foreign Office, has claimed that the FSB has directed cyber attacks on Members of Parliament (MPs), peers, civil servants, journalists, and others since 2015 in a 'sustained effort to interfere in our democratic processes.' Docherty added that Star Blizzard, under the command of the FSB, had targeted lawmakers 'from multiple parties.'²
• Other victims, who have been targeted mainly through their personal emails — such as Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, and Proton Mail — include lawyers as well as staff at both think tanks and universities. Once successfully hacked, the attackers then disguise themselves as legitimate contacts and send malicious links.³
• The espionage efforts were brought to light last February after lawmaker Stewart McDonald claimed his email was hacked by someone pretending to be his employee. Hackers linked to Russia and China also reportedly breached the UK's most dangerous nuclear facility.⁴
• The alleged attacks also included a 2018 breach of the Institute for Statecraft, including documents belonging to its founder Christopher Donnelly. The former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, was another alleged target.¹
• The UK's National Cyber Security Centre has issued new guidelines, warning likely targets to be on high alert and implement new security measures.³

Sources: ¹Sky News, ²The Guardian, ³Forbes and ⁴Ukrainska Pravda.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by INews. While this news shouldn't surprise anyone, the UK government did its due diligence by investigating these hacks thoroughly over 18 months before publicly accusing Moscow. After careful investigation, we know the FSB has targeted high-level personnel in the UK as well as US military personnel. Furthermore, this group of Russian attackers hacked Ukrainian infrastructure months before the annexation of Crimea.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Global Times. This so-called bombshell news would mean something if the US hadn't been doing the exact same thing to both private citizens and diplomats in Russia. American intelligence agencies, working in tandem with Apple, have already been using Apple-provided malware to hack iPhones via their sim cards registered with diplomatic missions. Western countries publicly decry Moscow's use of cyberwarfare, while conducting the very same malicious schemes.

Predictions