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

Charges against Yahoo for hacking.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

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.

Subscribe to The Week

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

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us