MOSCOW FUEL
Russia hacked Ukrainian energy firm at center of Trump’s impeachment ‘looking for dirt on Joe Biden’s son Hunter’
RUSSIA hacked into the Ukrainian energy firm at the center of President Donald Trump's impeachment looking for dirt on Joe Biden's son Hunter, it was reported on Monday.
Successful hacking attempts into Burisma Holdings, where Hunter Biden was a boardmember, began in November when the House launched the inquiry, reports .
The impeachment proceedings centered on allegations Trump tried to force the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Bidens' links to Burisma.
Experts told the publication it isn't clear what was allegedly found by the hackers of the military intelligence unit G.R.U - who use the alias "Fancy Bear" - or even what they were looking for.
They noted the timing and extent of these insidious cyberattacks would indicate the Russians were combing the company for scandalous material relating to the Biden family.
This would be the sort of information Trump allegedly asked the Ukrainian president to provide, the Times reports.
Area 1 detected the hacking, revealing Russian military intelligence allegedly used phishing emails designed to steal usernames and passwords.
The Silicon Valley security firm operates a network of global web sensors to detect phishing attacks like this one.
They discovered hackers sent bogus emails from the company to Burisa staffers, as well as setting up fake websites which resembled the sign-in pages for its subsidiaries.
According to Area 1 experts, many employees fell for the scam and entered their login details, giving the hackers access to the server.
Area 1 co-founder Oren Falkowitz told the Times it "mirrors the G.R.U. hacks we saw in 2016 against the D.N.C. and [Clinton campaign chairman] John Podesta."
He said: "Once again, they are stealing email credentials, in what we can only assume is a repeat of Russian interference in the last election.
"The Burisma hack is a cookie-cutter G.R.U. campaign ... Russian hackers, as sophisticated as they are, also tend to be lazy. They use what works."
Cyber experts likened the incident to Russian intelligence hacking Hillary Clinton's emails in 2016 before their trolls spread and spun the information.
The Times reports US officials have now warned Russian intelligence has become stealthier in its attempts to sow discord and influence American voters.
The US Justice Department indicted seven GRU officers in 2018.
An anonymous American security official noted the recent attacks on Burisma may be linked to Russian spies in Ukraine who are trying to unearth Biden family scandal.
The Russian agents were allegedly hunting for emails, financial records and legal documents in Burisma servers, the unnamed official said.
Trump came under fire for allegedly bribing Ukrainian officials with $400million in US military assistance to investigate the Bidens.
The president vehemently denies the allegations while his Republican supporters highlight the money was sent to Ukraine.
The Burisma hack is a cookie-cutter G.R.U. campaign.
Area 1 Co-Founder Oren Falkowitz
But his Democratic opponants argue the cash was only sent after a whistleblower highlighted Trump's July phone call with Zelensky.
The Bidens say they did nothing wrong in Ukraine despite Trump's repeated attempts to politically weaponise their role at Burisma.
They have never been charged with any wrongdoing related to their work overseas in the Ukraine.
But Trump alleged former Vice President Biden tried to coerce the Ukraine to fire a prosecutor looking into corruption within Burisma.
Biden - who says he was following protocol - argues the prosecutor was sacked because he didn't do enough to combat corruption.
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Hunter, who stood down from the board seat he held since 2014, told it was a case of "poor judgment on my part."
"I gave a hook to some very unethical people to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father," he said in October.
"So I take full responsibility for that. Did I do anything improper? No, not in any way. Not in any way whatsoever."
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