Claims and findings on Russian hackers who have been in the top trending stories of hacking US presidential elections have stunned the world. In a list obtained by the Associated Press which was previously not published, it has been claimed that the Russian hackers had intentions and aspirations to a surprisingly higher level i.e. higher than hacking US presidential elections. These hacking ambitions include:
Targeting of Ukrainian officials including secret investigation officers, US defence contractors and even against Russia’s own opposition figures.
The list not only provides credible information but also supports its notion with forensic evidence that are hard to appeal against. The evidence includes the traces of a long term struggle of a successful hacking operation which included attempts of hacking into more than 4700 Gmail accounts and much more.
Keir Giles, director of the Conflict Studies Research Centre in Cambridge, England, and one of five outside experts who reviewed the AP’s findings commented on the list:
“It’s a wish list of who you’d want to target to further Russian interests, a master list of individuals whom Russia would like to spy on, embarrass, discredit or silence.”
These findings on Russian hackers have been based on more than 19,000 links and reveals more than 100 probable targets of the hackers. The list covers all the details between the period of March 2015 and May 2016. According to analysis of the list, it can be seen that most of the targets were in the United States, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Syria.
Just as a hint to how integrated this hacking was, let us have a look on which US personalities were probable targets of the Russian hackers:
- Former Secretary of State John Kerry
- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell
- Former NATO Supreme Commander
- U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove
- U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark
The findings on Russian hackers also reveals that multinational and multimillionaire companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin were also targets.
The list goes on and keeps dropping jaws over the magnitude and integrity of the ingenious hacking plans formulated by the hackers in ‘claimed’ alliance with Russian authorities.
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