BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union on Thursday imposed travel and financial sanctions on a department of Russia’s military intelligence service and companies in North Korea and China for their alleged involvement in major cyber attacks worldwide.
FILE PHOTO: The flags of the European Union wave outside the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, June 5, 2020. REUTERS / Yves Herman
In its first cybercrime-related sanctions, the EU targeted the special technologies department of the Russian military intelligence service, known as the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, said in a statement.
The bloc accused the Russian service of having carried out two cyber attacks in June 2017, which affected several companies in Europe and caused large financial losses. The service is also accused of two cyber attacks on Ukraine’s power grid in 2015 and 2016.
Four people working for the Russian military intelligence service were also sanctioned for allegedly participating in a cyberattack attempt against the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Netherlands in April 2018.
North Korean company Chosun Expo was also sanctioned on suspicion of supporting the Lazarus Group, which is believed to be responsible for a series of major attacks worldwide, including a $ 81 million heist against the Bank of Bangladesh account at the Bank of The New York Federal Reserve in 2016, the World’s Greatest Cyber Fraud.
The company is also allegedly linked to an attack on Hollywood film studio Sony Pictures to prevent the release of a satirical film about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2014.
Last year, the United States Treasury imposed sanctions on the Lazarus Group and two other groups of North Korean hackers for their alleged involvement in the attacks on Sony Pictures and the Bangladesh central bank, among others. He said that North Korea’s main intelligence service was behind the piracy groups.
North Korea has denied any involvement in cyber attacks.
The EU sanctions also affected the Chinese company Haitai Technology Development, accused of having supported cyber attacks, known as Operation Cloud Hopper, which aims to steal commercially sensitive data from multinationals worldwide. Two Chinese people allegedly involved in the attacks were also punished.
Penalties include travel bans and asset freezes. Individuals in the EU, companies and other entities are prohibited from making funds available to blacklisted people.
China’s diplomatic mission to the European Union said in a statement early Friday that China “is a strong advocate of network security and one of the biggest victims of hacker attacks.”
China wants the global security of cyberspace to be maintained through “dialogue and cooperation” and not through unilateral sanctions, the statement added.
Report by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Additional reports from Wang Jing and David Stanway in Shanghai; Mark Potter, Hugh Lawson and Lincoln Feast edition.
.
