WASHINGTON, December 30. /TASS/. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a joint 13-page report that blames US election cyberattacks on Russian civilian and military intelligence services.
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"This activity by RIS [Russian civilian and military intelligence Services] is part of an ongoing campaign of cyber-enabled operations directed at the US government and its citizens," the report reads.
This fall, Washington blamed sensitive information leaks, that marred Democrat Hillary Clinton’s electoral campaign, on Moscow. Russia has strongly rejected the claims.
"The US Government confirms that two different RIS actors participated in the intrusion into a US political party," the report reads without identifying the party by name.
The report claims that there were at least two successful attacks: the party’s systems were breached for the first time in summer 2015, and in spring 2016 for the second time.
The survey also accuses two hacker groups, allegedly linked to the Russian government, with past attacks on "government organizations, think tanks, universities, and corporations around the world."
It also includes information on worldwide botnets that the hackers allegedly used to cover tracks.
The White House said, commenting on the report, that it includes newly declassified data "that enables cyber security firms and other network defenders to identify certain malware that the Russian intelligence services use."
It also called on "network defenders" to "use this information to identify and block Russian malware, forcing the Russian intelligence services to re-engineer their malware."
According to the US administration the report’s information on how the attacks are conducted can help "better identify new tactics or techniques that a malicious actor might deploy or detect and disrupt an ongoing intrusion."
The outgoing Obama administration announced Thursday it had imposed sanctions on Russia’s military intelligence and security services and expelled 35 Russian diplomats over Moscow’s alleged role in the attacks on the US electoral system.