The Foreign Office summoned Russia’s ambassador for an explanation and sanctioned two members of the ‘Star Blizzard’ group, believed to be controlled by the FSB’s ‘Control 18’ division and carrying out such operations
London, Thanasis Gavos
THE Russian security service FSB conducted for years business of illegally exfiltrating private communications of high-ranking politicians and government officials in the United Kingdom in an attempt to interfere in British political processes.
The revelation was made in the House of Commons by Leo Doherty, the Under Secretary of State responsible for Europe.
The Foreign Office has summoned Russia’s ambassador for an explanation, while sanctioning two members of the ‘Star Blizzard’ group, believed to be controlled by the FSB’s ‘Control 18’ division and carrying out such operations. One of the two is a security intelligence officer in the FSB.
MPs, members of the House of Lords, government officials, journalists, academics and others have been targeted by Russian hackers since at least 2015. The operation mainly involved accessing private emails and creating fake accounts pretending to be known contacts of the victims.
It is believed that the surveillance was targeted and involved hundreds rather than thousands of victims.
The British government also named the FSB as the perpetrators of the information theft related to the 2019 UK election. The complaint was made in 2020, but without naming the group of hackers.
Source :Skai
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