Russians penalized for cyberattacks

The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday sanctioned five Russian firms and three executives for cyberattacks and digital spying. Officials said the companies played a role in the NotPetya ransomware attack that targeted computers in Ukraine last year and spread worldwide. The Russians also tried to hack the U.S. energy grid and the global network infrastructure, including undersea cables that carry the bulk of the world’s telecommunications data, according to the Treasury Department. “The United States is engaged in an ongoing effort to counter malicious actors working at the behest of the Russian Federation and its military and intelligence units to increase Russia’s offensive cyber capabilities,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The sanctions freeze the companies’ U.S. assets and bar Americans from doing business with them. The affected firms include: Digital Security and its subsidiaries ERPScan and Embedi; the Kvant Scientific Research Institute; and Divetechnoservices. The three sanctioned executives work for Divetechnoservices.