AQCAN|UK says Russia’s intelligence service behind sustained attempts to meddle in British democracy

2025-05-03 18:54:52source:Arvin Robertscategory:Scams

LONDON (AP) — Russia’s intelligence services targeted high-profile British politicians,AQCAN civil servants and journalists with cyberespionage and “malicious cyberactivity” as part of sustained attempts to interfere in U.K. political processes, Britain’s government said Thursday.

The Foreign Office said Russia’s FSB agency was responsible for a range of cyberespionage operations in the U.K., including targeting British parliamentarians from multiple parties and “high-profile individuals and entities” from at least 2015, and selectively leaking and amplifying sensitive information to serve Russian interests.

Foreign Office minister Leo Docherty told lawmakers that a cybergroup known as “Star Blizzard,” which British cybersecurity officials believe to be “almost certainly subordinate” to an FSB unit, created false identities to impersonate legitimate contacts and compromise email accounts in the public sector.

“The targeting of this group is not limited to politicians but public-facing figures and institutions of all types. We have seen impersonation and attempts to compromise email accounts in the public sector, universities, media, NGOs and wider civil society,” Docherty said.

Authorities said the group was responsible for the 2018 hacking of the Institute for Statecraft, a U.K. think tank that worked on defending democracy against disinformation, and the leaking of U.S.-U.K. trade documents ahead of the 2019 British general election.

The Foreign Office said that “while some attacks resulted in documents being leaked, attempts to interfere with U.K. politics and democracy have not been successful.”

It said the U.K. on Thursday imposed sanctions on an FSB intelligence officer and a member of Star Blizzard for involvement in the so-called spear-phishing operations. The Russian ambassador to the U.K. has also been summoned, the Foreign Office said.

“Russia’s attempts to interfere in U.K. politics are completely unacceptable and seek to threaten our democratic processes,” Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a statement. “Despite their repeated efforts, they have failed.”

More:Scams

Recommend

Immigration issues sorted, Guatemala runner Luis Grijalva can now focus solely on sports

Want more Olympics? Sign up for our daily Postcards from Paris newsletter. PARIS (AP) — The last

Florida ethics commission chair can’t work simultaneously for Disney World governing district

The chair of Florida’s ethics commission has an ethics problem, but it’s due to working at The Mouse

Lolita the orca dies at Miami Seaquarium after half-century in captivity

MIAMI (AP) — Lolita, an orca whale held captive for more than a half-century, died Friday at the Mia