DCLeaks
DC Leaks is a website that was established in June 2016. Since its inception, it has been responsible for publishing leaks of emails belonging to multiple prominent figures in the United States government and military. The site was the source of the emails derived from the Democratic National Committee cyber attacks.
While creators of the DC Leaks describe themselves as "American hacktivists",[1] cybersecurity research firm ThreatConnect concluded that the site is likely linked to Russian persona Guccifer 2.0 and the GRU hacker group Fancy Bear.[2]
Identity
According to the DC Leaks site's "About" page, their aim is "to find out and tell you the truth about U.S. decision-making process [sic] as well as about the key elements of American political life." Of themselves, they say that they were launched by "the American hacktivists who respect and appreciate freedom of speech, human rights and government of the people."[1]
While DC Leaks claims to be American-run,[3] cybersecurity research firm ThreatConnect concluded in their analysis that the project shows the hallmarks of Russian intelligence, matching the attack pattern of the GRU hacker group Fancy Bear.[2][4][5][6][7]
History
The domain name dcleaks.com was registered on April 19, 2016.[8] The dcleaks.com website was launched in June 2016.[9]
Leaks
On June 14, 2016, the press reported that the DNC had been breached for nearly a year, from the summer 2015 and the other in April 2016. The attacker was knocked out of its network during the weekend of June 11 and 12, 2016.[3]
On July 1, 2016, DC Leaks released the emails of four-star General Philip Breedlove, the former NATO supreme commander in Europe. The emails allegedly show that Breedlove sought to overcome President Barack Obama's reluctance to escalate military tensions with Russia over the war in Ukraine in 2014.[10][11]
On August 12, 2016, DC Leaks released roughly 300 emails from Republican targets, including the 2016 campaign staff of Arizona Senator John McCain, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, and 2012 presidential candidate and former Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann.[9]
On August 12, 2016, DC Leaks released information about more than 200 Democratic lawmakers, including their personal cellphone numbers.[7]
On August 15, 2016, DC Leaks released 2,576 files predominately related to George Soros' Open Society Foundation. The leak included the Foundation's internal work plans, strategies, priorities and other worldwide activities by Soros.[4][12][13][14][15]
See also
References
- ^ a b "About". dcleaks.com. DC Leaks. 2016-08-29. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ a b "Does a BEAR Leak in the Woods?". Threat Connect. August 12, 2016.
- ^ a b Uchill, Joe (2016-08-12). "Report: Russia tried to start own WikiLeaks". thehill.com. The Hill (newspaper). Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ a b Riley, Michael (2016-08-11). "Russian Hackers of DNC Said to Nab Secrets From NATO, Soros". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ Meyer, Josh (2016-08-27). "Experts: Same Russians hacked Olympic whistleblower, Democrats". nbcnews.com. NBC News. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ Paletta, Damian (2016-08-15). "Democrats Brace for More Leaks From Hackers". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ a b DuVall, Eric (2016-08-13). "Suspected Russian hackers release lawmakers' personal information". upi.com. United Press International. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ "DcLeaks.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools". whois.domaintools.com. DomainTools. 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ a b Bennett, Cory (2016-08-13). "Suspected Russian DNC hackers also hit GOP, researchers say". politico.com. Politico. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ Fang, Lee; Jilani, Zaid (2016-07-01). "Hacked Emails Reveal NATO General Plotting Against Obama on Russia Policy". theintercept.com. The Intercept. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ Hannon, Elliot (2016-08-11). "Russian Hackers Reportedly Tried "DC Leaks" Site to Leak Emails Before Moving on to WikiLeaks". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ Hattem, Julian (2016-08-15). "Thousands of Soros docs released by alleged Russian-backed hackers". thehill.com. The Hill (newspaper). Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ "Soros hacked, thousands of Open Society Foundations files released online". rt.com. RT (TV network). 2016-08-14. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ Kaplan, Rachel (2016-08-16). "George Soros hacked, documents posted online". israelnationalnews.com. Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ "The Bizarre Media Blackout Of Hacked George Soros Documents". investors.com. Investor's Business Daily. 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-30.