Fancy Bear, the Russian Election Hackers, Caught at It Again in Attacks on California and Indiana Democrats

Fancy Bear—the notorious Russian group behind the hacking of Hillary Clinton staff’s emails during the 2016 election campaign—has been caught trying its luck ahead of the 2020 vote, according to a report from Reuters. This time, the group, which is controlled Russia’s military intelligence agency, allegedly targeted the email accounts of Democratic state parties in California and Indiana, as well as the Center for American Progress, a think tank founded by former Hillary Clinton campaign chief John Podesta. The attempted hacks were flagged by Microsoft over the summer, according to Reuters, and are believed to have been unsuccessful. The Indiana Democratic Party said it was “unaware of any successful intrusions,” while California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks said “the effort by the foreign entity was unsuccessful.” Russia’s Embassy in Washington described the report as “fake news.”