The revelation came as the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against six hackers working with Unit 29155 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and wire fraud conspiracy.
The charges announced Thursday stem from the group's alleged role in hack-and-leak and disruptive operations - including malware designed to look like ransomware - across dozens of countries dating back to 2020, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.
On Jan. 13, 2022, the group attacked at least two dozen Ukrainian government networks using malware known as WhisperGate, which was made to look like ransomware but was, instead, destructive malware 'designed to completely destroy the target computer and related data in advance of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,' the DOJ said.
The U.S. and a coalition of international partners in May 2022 attributed the destructive activity to the Russian government.
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