Two Russian spies indicted over 2014 Yahoo data breach, Justice Department reveals

Two Russian spies were among the four individuals charged in the massive Yahoo data breach in 2014, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. Two Russian Federal Security Service officers, Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, and the other two hackers have been indicted in the cyberattack that affected 500 million Yahoo user accounts. Though this is not the first time the Justice Department has charged Russian hackers with cybercrime, The Associated Press noted this "is the first criminal case brought against Russian government officials."

The Department of Justice said in a statement the hack targeted "Russian journalists, U.S. and Russian government officials, and private-sector employees of financial, transportation, and other companies." Personal data including names, email addresses, and passwords were stolen, but Yahoo has maintained financial information was not taken.

Though Russian government-sponsored hackers are also thought to be behind hacks on Democratic organizations during the 2016 presidential campaign, a person "familiar with the matter" told Reuters the Yahoo breach is not believed to be related.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up