‘Hit list’ reveals Russian hackers’ worldwide targets

A previously unpublished “hit list” revealed the Russian hackers who attempted to disrupt the 2016 U.S. presidential election also targeted thousands of other people of interest to the Russian government in four other countries. According to an Associated Press report, cybersecurity firm Secureworks first collected the data from the Russian Fancy Bear hacking group. It revealed the group tried to break into the inboxes of 4,700 Gmail users between March 2015 and May 2016. The hackers tried to open at least 573 emails in the United States belonging to then Secretary of State John Kerry; former Secretary of State Colin Powell; U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, who was serving as NATO supreme commander; and one of Breedlove’s predecessors, U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark. The Associated Press said it also found some Republican targets. In Ukraine, the group targeted the president and several other former ministers. It also tried to break into the account of Serhiy Leshchenko, an opposition parliamentarian who helped to uncover the payments made off-the-record to Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. In Russia, Fancy Bear targeted opposition party members and journalists. Other targets came from Georgia and Syria. “It’s a wish list of who you’d want to target to further Russian interests,” said Keir Giles, director of the Conflict Studies Research Center in Cambridge, England.