Russia-linked hackers posing as journalists attempt to attack UK Defence Ministry – Sky News

A hacker group linked to Russia has posed as journalists and carried out a cyber espionage operation against the UK Ministry of Defence. The attack has been foiled.

Source: Sky News

Details: Details of the thwarted hacking attack emerged after Defence Secretary John Healey said the UK military was strengthening its offensive capabilities to carry out cyber attacks against enemy states such as Russia as part of a long-awaited review of the UK’s defence framework.

The Strategic Defence Review is expected to be published on Monday. Prime Minister Keir Starmer kick-started it in July 2024, ahead of the NATO summit in June 2025.

"The nature of warfare is changing," Healey told a group of journalists during a visit to a secure facility in Wiltshire where the team that repelled the Russian cyber attack is based.

"The Ministry of Defence detected a spear phishing campaign targeting staff with the aim of delivering malware," the National Cyber Security Centre said in its analysis.

"The initial campaign consisted of two emails with a journalistic theme attempting to represent a news organisation.

The second campaign followed a financial theme, directing targets to a commercial file share," the centre said.

The official said that it took about an hour to detect the attack.

According to another official, the malware was linked to a Russian hacking group called RomCom.

Background:

• The North Atlantic Alliance has proposed including spending on cybersecurity and activities related to border and coastal security in the alliance's new target of 1.5% of GDP for defence-related spending.
• On 28 May, the Czech government stated that China was behind the cyber attack on the country's foreign ministry, which had been ongoing since 2022.

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