An AP investigation found that Russian cyberspies pursuing the secrets of military drones and other sensitive U.S. defense technology, tricked key contract workers into exposing their email to theft.
The hackers known as “Fancy Bear” – who also intruded in the U.S. election – targeted at least 87 people working on militarized drones, missiles, rockets, stealth fighter jets, cloud-computing platforms, or other sensitive activities. Fifteen of these targets worked on drones, which are becoming “the forefront of modern warfare.”
As many as 40 percent of those targeted clicked on the hackers’ phishing links. One reported clicking a link on a fake notice about his Gmail account, but realized before he typed his credentials that it was bogus.
Fancy Bear – believed to be working on behalf of the Kremlin – previously attempted to break into the Gmail accounts of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, American national security officials, journalists, and Kremlin critics and adversaries around the world.
