DISINFO: Russia is not and will never be implicated in cybercrimes
SUMMARY
Russia is not and will never be implicated in cybercrimes.
RESPONSE
Russian government-sponsored cyber operations and large-scale hacking operations to collect sensitive business and technology information in the US and Europe are well-documented. For example, in March 2017, the United States Department of Justice indicted two FSB officials and their Russian cybercriminal conspirators on computer hacking and conspiracy charges related to the collection of emails of US and European employees of transportation and financial services firms. The charges included conspiring to engage in economic espionage and theft of trade secrets. There is considerable evidence that Moscow-sponsored cyber operations have targeted organizations that seek to report the truth on Kremlin activities. For example, Dutch law-enforcement agents caught red-handed Russian military intelligence operatives involved in a hacking operation against the OPCW (the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons). Even Russian denials are almost-admissions of such practices. Russian president Vladimir Putin is known to have admitted that ‘patriotic hackers’ from Russia might target election campaigns abroad. Attempts of election meddling are also well documented. Numerous investigations, conducted by the authorities of various countries like Parliament’s committee in the UK , have provided convincing evidence of Russian interference in the Brexit referendum and in elections across Europe and in the US. Russian meddling in the 2016 election was established by US intelligence agencies. Robert Mueller’s investigation decisively concluded that Russia DID interfere in the 2016 election. For an overview of Russia's methods of electoral interference see here. For case studies on Russia's electoral interference see here.