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Russia's GRU 'targeted chemical weapons watchdog OPCW' | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Dutch security services expelled four Russians over a cyber plot in April targeting the global chemical weapons watchdog, officials said. | |
The operation by Russia's GRU military intelligence allegedly targeted the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague. | |
The OPCW has been probing the chemical attack on a Russian ex-spy in the UK. | The OPCW has been probing the chemical attack on a Russian ex-spy in the UK. |
The allegations are part of an organised push-back against alleged Russian cyber attacks around the world. | |
Earlier, UK government accused the GRU of being behind four high-profile cyber-attacks whose targets included included firms in Russia and Ukraine; the US Democratic Party; and a small TV network in the UK. | |
Russia has called the accusations a "diabolical cocktail" of allegations. | |
'Closed access hack' | |
The four suspects identified by Dutch officials had diplomatic passports and included an IT expert as well as support agents, officials said. | |
They hired a car and were seen to be scouting to carry out a closed access hack operation targeting the OPCW's wifi network. | |
Equipment in the car boot was pointed at the OPCW and was being used to intercept login details, Maj Gen Onno Eichelsheim from the Dutch MIVD intelligence service said. | |
When the men were intercepted they tried to destroy one of the mobile phones they were carrying. | |
What was on their computer? | |
A laptop seized from the suspects was found to have been used in Brazil, Switzerland and Malaysia. | |
In Malaysia it was used to target the investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH-17 over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people on board | |
Earlier this year Dutch-led international investigators concluded that the missile belonged to a Russian brigade. Russia has denied any involvement in the plane's destruction. | |
Data from the laptop showed it was also present in the Swiss city of Lausanne where it was linked to the hacking of a laptop belonging to the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), which has exposed doping by Russian athletes. | |
What is the GRU? | |
The GRU, also known as the Main Intelligence Directorate, is the intelligence arm of the Russian military. | |
It is different to the former KGB (now known as the SVR and FSB) as it conducts undercover military operations and collects intelligence operations around the globe. | |
In recent years the GRU has been accused of undercover involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, which saw the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. | |
It is believed that the two men accused of poisoning Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, named as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, were GRU agents. |