Estonia has revealed that Moscow was behind a series of cyber attacks targeting several Estonian ministries in 2020, in a rare move that publically accuses another state actor of a cyber attack.
Four years after Estonian ministries’ IT services, including the foreign ministry, were hit by cyberattacks, Tallinn identified the members of Unit 29155 of Russia’s military intelligence service (GRU) as the perpetrators, the prosecutor’s office stated in a press release on Thursday (5 September).
This is the first time the Baltic country has attributed a cyber attack targeting the state to a perpetrator, the statement adds.
“The Prosecutor’s Office sought the arrest of three GRU officers and they are wanted internationally based on the arrest warrant issued by the Harju County Court,” a press release from the Foreign Ministry reads.
Attribution is a very delicate part of any investigation into cyber attacks. They are, by nature, difficult to link to a person, and identify whether the individual behind the attack acted on behalf of a state. From there, bringing perpetrators to justice is equally complex.
The attribution of the attack to the Russian services is the result of a national and international investigation involving 10 countries, Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said in a statement.
The investigation “showed that Russia’s aim was to damage national computer systems, obtain sensitive information, and strike a blow against our sense of security.” Investigators concluded that the attacks were “malign and premeditated,” according to the statement.
“Attribution in cyberspace is not an easy task but today we can clearly show that we can do this and we will continue identifying the perpetrators of attacks against us in the future,” added Tanel Sepp, Director General of the Cyber Diplomacy Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In parallel, the US Department of Justice published an indictment alleging that GRU hackers tried to gain access to Ukrainian government systems, seeking information related to the war in Ukraine.
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