Russia's cyber infiltration threatens Georgia's stability
For several years, Russia conducted a widespread espionage and hacking campaign targeting the government and large enterprises in Georgia, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The information gathered may have enabled the sabotage of the country's critical infrastructure.
Documents obtained by Bloomberg News indicate that the Russians successfully infiltrated the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the central bank, and key energy and telecommunications providers. According to the report, Russian intelligence gained access to Georgian energy companies, oil terminals, media platforms, and government agencies between 2017 and 2020.
Russia infiltrates Georgia
Bloomberg sources stated that Russia has conducted similar operations "recently." However, no further details were provided.
Natia Seskuria from the Georgian Regional Institute for Security Studies (RISS) stated that Russia has been infiltrating Georgia for many years. This is particularly concerning given the upcoming elections, she added. On October 26, Georgians will choose a new parliament.
Western partners have informed Georgian authorities about some of the Russian hacking attacks. It's unclear if the authorities in Tbilisi have taken any action in this regard, European officials told Bloomberg.
Giorgi Shaismelashvili from Civic IDEA in Tbilisi assessed that "Georgia still does not fully realize these threats." In his opinion, Russia may be able to conduct cyberattacks on critical infrastructure if the parliamentary elections lead to a change of power that Moscow does not accept.
Bloomberg, in an article titled "How Russian Spies Hacked All of Georgia," described instances of hackers targeting Georgian entities. For example, hackers associated with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) broke into the email accounts of high-ranking officials at the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and accessed information from Georgian embassies in various countries.
Hackers broke into the ministry network
The operation targeting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was reportedly carried out by the hacker group Turla, which, according to the US Department of State, is associated with the FSB. From November to December 2020 alone, hackers breached the ministry's network and stole data 114 times.
From the end of 2019 to the beginning of 2020, Russian hackers also accessed emails of employees at the energy distributor Telasi, for example, and monitored them through cameras while they worked. Hackers also attacked another state-owned company in the energy sector, gaining the ability to disable electrical substations and power in some Georgian regions, according to documents cited in the report. One of these documents suggests that GRU, the Russian military intelligence, was behind the attacks.
