A US senator said on Wednesday that Russia and President Vladimir Putin could expect sanctions after cyberattacks during the US presidential election in November.
“You can expect that the Congress will investigate the Russian involvement in our elections and there will be bipartisan sanctions coming that will hit Russia hard, particularly Putin as an individual,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in the Latvian capital. Russian officials have denied accusations of interference in the election won by Donald Trump.
OSCE confirms being victim
Meanwhile, the International observer body the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) confirmed on Wednesday being the victim of a “major” cyberattack.
“Early November the OSCE became aware of a major information security incident,” OSCE spokeswoman Mersiha Causevic Podzic told AFP via e-mail.
The attack “compromis[ed] the confidentiality” of the OSCE’s IT network and put “its integrity at risk,” although the organization was still able to operate, she said.
According to French daily Le Monde, which first reported the incident, a Western intelligence agency believes that Russian hackers group APT28 was behind the attack.
This group, also known as Pawn Storm, Sofacy and Fancy Bear, is believed to be behind other high-profile cyberattacks and to be linked to Russia’s security services, Le Monde said.
The OSCE declined to comment on this, saying only that “the way in which the attacker accessed the OSCE was identified, as have some of the external communication destinations.”
The organization has its origins in the Cold War but after 1991 it expanded and now has 57 member states including the United States, Russia and Ukraine.
The Vienna-based OSCE currently has some 700 monitors keeping on the eye on the conflict in eastern Ukraine and is also active in monitoring elections and media freedom.

Source: Arab News