US authorities on Monday charged six Russian military officers in connection with some of the world’s largest cyber attacks in the past decade.
The US Department of Justice revealed the charges against the six officers from Russia’s main intelligence directorate GRU, and said they were members of a sophisticated state-sponsored Russian secret hacking group called Sandworm.
These charges are the first against Sandworm.
They include computer fraud and conspiracy in launching attacks that entailed taking down Ukraine's power grid in 2015, an attempt to disrupt the French elections in 2016 and an attack on the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea in 2018.
The officers are aged in their twenties and thirties and were identified as Yuriy Sergeyevich Andrienko, Sergey Vladimirovich Detistov, Pavel Valeryevich Frolov, Anatoliy Sergeyevich Kovalev, Artem Valeryevich Ochichenko, and Petr Nikolayevich Pliskin
US officials described Russian cybercrime as malicious and irresponsible.
“No country has weaponised its cyber capabilities as maliciously or irresponsibly as Russia, wantonly causing unprecedented damage to pursue small tactical advantages and to satisfy fits of spite,” assistant attorney general John Demers said.
The FBI was also involved in the case.
“The FBI has repeatedly warned that Russia is a highly capable cyber adversary, and the information revealed in this indictment illustrates how pervasive and destructive Russia’s cyber activities truly are,” FBI deputy director David Bowdich said.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “The GRU’s actions against the Olympic and Paralympic Games are cynical and reckless. We condemn them in the strongest possible terms.
“The UK will continue to work with our allies to call out and counter future malicious cyber attacks.”
Other cyber attacks the group carried out over the past five years were against worldwide businesses and critical infrastructure (using the NotPetya malware), Novichok poisoning investigations, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and Georgian companies and government entities.
The NotPetya attack was on major companies such as Fedex and Maersk.
In some cases it was aimed at medical centres, shutting down computers at two hospitals in Pennsylvania, and blocking patients’ access to medical systems, the Justice Department said.
Yuriy Sergeyevich Andrienko was charged for helping to develop NotPetya.
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Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
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Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
The biog
Prefers vegetables and fish to meat and would choose salad over pizza
Walks daily as part of regular exercise routine
France is her favourite country to visit
Has written books and manuals on women’s education, first aid and health for the family
Family: Husband, three sons and a daughter
Fathiya Nadhari's instructions to her children was to give back to the country
The children worked as young volunteers in social, education and health campaigns
Her motto is to never stop working for the country
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Virtuzone GCC Sixes
Date and venue Friday and Saturday, ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City
Time Matches start at 9am
Groups
A Blighty Ducks, Darjeeling Colts, Darjeeling Social, Dubai Wombats; B Darjeeling Veterans, Kuwait Casuals, Loose Cannons, Savannah Lions; C Awali Taverners, Darjeeling, Dromedary, Darjeeling Good Eggs
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
