A Russian hackers’ group called Fancy Bear targeted at least 200 journalists, publishers and bloggers between the mid-2014s and as recently as a few months ago, an AP investigation has found.
The hackers mostly focused on personal emails, the investigation said. Around 50 of the journalists worked at The New York Times, another 50 were foreign correspondents in Moscow or Russian reporters who worked for independent news outlets.
Media figures in Ukraine, Moldova, the Baltics and Washington were also targeted.
The investigation named several prominent journalists who were targeted, including The New York Times’ former Moscow bureau chief Ellen Barry. Till a few months ago, Barry was based in New Delhi as the paper’s South Asia bureau chief. She had covered the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The AP investigation said journalists were the third-largest group on the hacking hit list, which it got from cybersecurity firm Secureworks. Diplomatic personnel and US Democrats topped that list.
The list is new evidence for US intelligence agencies that have said Fancy Bear acted for the Russian government and intervened in the US presidential election.
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