Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, was accused by Western governments of attempting to mount a brazen series of malicious cyber-attacks against targets around the world, including the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
It was revealed on Thursday that officers from the Dutch military intelligence service had foiled an attempt by four GRU agents to launch a cyber-attack against the OPCW, based in the Hague in the Netherlands. The incident occurred in April just weeks after the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal in the U.K., which the OCPW was helping to investigate.
2. Four Russian intelligence officers were setting up specialised equipment, near the OPCW building, preparing to hack into OPCW networks. As host country the Netherlands bears responsibility for ensuring the organisation’s security. pic.twitter.com/RYhiQmlfZU
— Ministerie van Defensie (@DefensieOnline) October 4, 2018
The GRU agents reportedly traveled to the Netherlands under Russian diplomatic passports, after a initial attempt to launch a remote cyber-attack on the OCPW failed. The agents then headed to the Russian embassy and, after two days of reconnaissance, hired a car and parked near the OCPW building. At this point, Dutch intelligence officers intervened and promptly kicked the four out of the country. Dutch intelligence did, however, retain the equipment the GRU agents were using in the attempted attack, including a laptop which showed evidence of similar operations in Switzerland and Malaysia.
“It’s hard to know their full intention as their operation failed,” a British security official told the Guardian. “But judging from past form elsewhere, discrediting the [Skripal] investigation could well have been their motivation.”
“This attempt to access the secure systems of an international organisation working to rid the world of chemical weapons demonstrates the GRU’s disregard for the global values,” British prime minister Theresa May and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said in a joint statement. “Our action today reinforces the clear message from the international community: we will uphold the rules-based international system, and defend international institutions from those that seek to do them harm.”
"We are going to be clear, where Russia acts in an indiscriminate and reckless way we will be exposing them" – UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson reacts to revelations of Russian cyber attacks https://t.co/g83Xl80ME9 pic.twitter.com/aZJ6dYfjSD
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) October 4, 2018
Just hours before the four men were arrested, the U.K., backed by intel from Australia and New Zealand, accused the GRU of launching a worldwide campaign of “malicious cyberattacks,” including an attack on airport in Odessa in Ukraine in 2017 as well as the release of confidential files stolen from WADA in 2016.
Meanwhile, the same day, the U.S. Justice Department announced indictments against seven GRU officers for hacking, wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering. Three of the hackers were also accused of helping to hack individuals in the US during the 2016 presidential election, while four of the names on the indictment were the same names as those apprehended in the Hague for trying to disrupt the OPCW.
The extent of the details released about the GRU’s activities is unprecedented. Dutch authorities publicly posted not only the alleged agents names and passports, but also photographic evidence of their equipment, which included mobile phones, cameras, WiFi panel antenna and stacks of US dollars.