Guccifer 2.0

Not to be confused with Guccifer.

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"Guccifer 2.0" is a persona which claimed to be the hacker(s) who gained unauthorized access to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) computer network and then leaked its documents to the media,[1][2] the website WikiLeaks,[3][4][5][6][7] and a conference event.[8] Some of the documents "Guccifer 2.0" released to the media appear to be forgeries cobbled together from public information and previous hacks, which had been mixed with disinformation.[9][10][11] According to indictments in February 2018, the persona is operated by Russian military intelligence agency GRU.[12] On July 13, 2018, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 GRU agents for allegedly perpetrating the cyberattacks.[12]

The U.S. Intelligence Community assessed with high confidence that some of the genuine leaks from "Guccifer 2.0" were part of a series of cyberattacks on the DNC committed by two Russian military intelligence groups,[13][14][15][16] and that "Guccifer 2.0" is actually a persona created by Russian intelligence services to cover for their interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[17][18] This conclusion is based on intelligence analysis and analyses conducted by multiple private sector cybersecurity individuals and firms, including CrowdStrike,[19][20] Fidelis Cybersecurity,[20][21] FireEye's Mandiant,[20] SecureWorks,[22] ThreatConnect,[23] Trend Micro,[24] and the security editor for Ars Technica.[25] The Russian government denies involvement in the theft,[26] and "Guccifer 2.0" denied links to Russia.[27][28]

In March 2018, Special Counsel Robert Mueller took over investigation of Guccifer 2.0 from the FBI while it was reported that forensic determination had found the Guccifer 2.0 persona to be a "particular military intelligence directorate (GRU) officer working out of the agency's headquarters on Grizodubovoy Street in Moscow".[29]

  1. ^ Uchill, Joe (July 13, 2016). "Guccifer 2.0 releases new DNC docs". The Hill. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  2. ^ Uchill, Joe (July 18, 2016). "New Guccifer 2.0 dump highlights 'wobbly Dems' on Iran deal". The Hill. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  3. ^ Savage, Charlie (July 26, 2016). "Assange, Avowed Foe of Clinton, Timed Email Release for Democratic Convention". NYT. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "'Lone Hacker' Claims Responsibility for Cyber Attack on Democrats". NBC News. June 16, 2016. Archived from the original on July 28, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cox, Joseph (July 22, 2016). "Guccifer 2.0 Claims Responsibility for WikiLeaks DNC Email Dump". Motherboard. Archived from the original on July 26, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "The Clinton Foundation hack is likely fake". The Daily Dot. October 4, 2016. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  10. ^ Williams, Katie Bo (October 4, 2016). "Alleged Guccifer 2.0 hack of Clinton Foundation raises suspicions". The Hill. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference propaganda was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b "12 Russians indicted in Mueller investigation". CNN.com. July 13, 2018. Archived from the original on July 14, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  13. ^ "Spy Agency Consensus Grows That Russia Hacked D.N.C." New York Times. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  14. ^ Shieber, Jonathan; Conger, Kate (July 26, 2016). "Did Russian government hackers leak the DNC emails?". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  15. ^ Rid, Thomas (July 25, 2016). "All Signs Point to Russia Being Behind the DNC Hack". Motherboard. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  16. ^ "DNC email leak: Russian hackers Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear behind breach". The Guardian. July 26, 2016. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Price was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Franceschi-Bicchierai was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Dmitri Alperovitch, Bears in the Midst: Intrusion into the Democratic National Committee Archived May 24, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Crowdstrike (June 15, 2016).
  20. ^ a b c Ellen Nakashima, Cyber researchers confirm Russian government hack of Democratic National Committee Archived August 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Washington Post (June 20, 2016).
  21. ^ Michael Kan, Russian hackers were behind DNC breach, says Fidelis Cybersecurity Archived February 16, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, IDG News Service (June 20, 2016).
  22. ^ SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit Threat Intelligence, Threat Group-4127 Targets Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign Archived July 20, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, SecureWorks (June 16, 2016).
  23. ^ Threatconnect Research Team, Shiny Object? Guccifer 2.0 and the DNC Breach Archived August 12, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, Threatconnect (June 29, 2016).
  24. ^ Hacquebord, Feike (2017). Two Years of Pawn Storm—Examining an Increasingly Relevant Threat (PDF) (Report). Trend Micro. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 5, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017. This makes it very likely that Guccifer 2.0 is a creation of the Pawn Storm actor group.
  25. ^ Dan Goodin, "Guccifer" leak of DNC Trump research has a Russian's fingerprints on it: Evidence left behind shows leaker spoke Russian and had affinity for Soviet era Archived July 25, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Ars Technica (June 16, 2016).
  26. ^ Moscow denies Russian involvement in U.S. DNC hacking Archived October 18, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Reuters (June 14, 2016).
  27. ^ Franceschi-Bicchierai, Lorenzo (June 21, 2016). "We Spoke to DNC Hacker 'Guccifer 2.0'". Motherboard. Vice News. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  28. ^ Franceschi-Bicchierai, Lorenzo (January 12, 2017). "Alleged Russian Hacker 'Guccifer 2.0' Is Back After Months of Silence". Motherboard. VICE News. Archived from the original on January 22, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference dailybeast180322 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).