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Treasury Department Hits Russia With Hacking Sanctions

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The U.S. Department of the Treasury slammed three Russian individuals and five Russian entities with multiple new sanctions Monday over their involvement in cyber attacks on the United States.

All entities are being designated under Executive Order (E.O.) 13694, “Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities” for aiding Russia’s main security agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB).

“The United States is engaged in an ongoing effort to counter malicious actors working at the behest of the Russian Federation and its military and intelligence units to increase Russia’s offensive cyber capabilities,” Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement.

Effective Monday, all property and interests of those under the sanctions subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and “U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them,” the statement reads.

The Treasury Department is sanctioning the firms for directly contributing to improving Russia’s cyber capabilities through their work with the FSB, including 2017 NotPetya cyber attack, attacks on the U.S. energy grid and network infrastructure including routers and switches.

The sanctions also target Russia’s underwater capabilities, which have been active in tracking underwater communication cables, which hold the bulk of the world’s telecommunications data.

The individuals named in the statement are all involved with Divetechnoservices: Aleksandr Lvovich Tribun, Oleg Sergeyevich Chirikov, Vladimir Yakovlevich Kaganskiy. The firms are Digital Security, ERPScan, Embedi, Kvant Scientific Research Institute, and Divetechnoservices. (RELATED: Trump Sanctions Russian Nationals For Meddling In 2016 Presidential Election)

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