New York, March 25, Desh Click News
The US has charged three Russians with hacking critical energy-related infrastructure in India by infiltrating into the system malware that could be used to disrupt it at will.
The charges that had been filed in a federal court in Kansas City against the three men described as officers of the Russian intelligence agency were disclosed on Thursday by the Department of Justice.
The US government is offering rewards of up to $10 million for information about each of them.
The charging document filed in court that was seen by IANS listed India among the countries where they had set up backdoor systems in energy infrastructure computer networks that could be potentially used for cyber warfare.
The document did not identify the facilities in India that had been affected but said broadly that the international targets "included global oil and gas firms, utility and electrical grid companies, nuclear power plants, renewable energy companies, consulting and engineering groups, and advanced technology firms".
Besides the US and India, it said, over 135 countries had been targeted and these included China, Pakistan, the UK, France and Germany.
Announcing the charges, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said: "Russian state-sponsored hackers pose a serious and persistent threat to critical infrastructure both in the US and around the world."
The three were identified as Pavel Aleksandrovich Akulov, 36, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gavrilov, 42, and Marat Valeryevich Tyukov, 39, who, the Department said, were officers in Military Unit 71330 or "Center 16" of the FSB, the Russian federal intelligence agency.(IANS)