U.S. Justice Department Says It Disrupted Russian-Intelligence Hacking Network

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco (file photo)

The U.S. Justice Department said on February 15 it disrupted a Russian-intelligence hacking network. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement that the action prevented state-sponsored hackers from launching cyberattacks behind the cover of compromised U.S. routers. The Justice Department said that a court-authorized operation "neutralized" the network of hundreds of small office and home-office routers controlled by Russian intelligence and used to enable a variety of crimes. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Russian intelligence services turned to criminal groups to help them target home and office routers, "but the Justice Department disabled their scheme."