WASHINGTON — Two Russian intelligence agents and a pair of hired hackers have been charged in a devastating criminal breach at Yahoo that affected at least a half billion user accounts, the Justice Department said Wednesday in bringing the first case of its kind against current Russian government officials. In a scheme that prosecutors say blended intelligence gathering with old-fashioned financial greed, the four men targeted the email accounts of Russian and US government officials, Russian journalists and employees of financial services and other private businesses, US officials said. The indictment identifies Dokuchaev and Sushchin as officers of the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB. Belan and Baratov were paid hackers who were directed by the FSB to break into the accounts, prosecutors said. The announcement comes as federal authorities investigate Russian interference through hacking in the 2016 US presidential election.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 15, 2017 21:00 UTC