Russian Hacktivists Sanctioned for US Critical Infrastructure Attacks

Two members of Cyber Army Russia Reborn (CARR), a Russian hacktivist group, have been sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury for their involvement in cyberattacks against US critical infrastructure.

Yuliya Vladimirovna Pankratova, also known as YUliYA, is the leader of the group, controls the group's operations, and acts as its spokesperson. Denis Olegovich Degtyarenko is the primary hacker of the gang, which began its campaign against Ukraine and its supporters in 2022.

CARR was able to interfere with human-machine interfaces at water facilities in both the US and Poland, as well as disrupt operations at a facility in France. The group's ability to compromise the industrial control systems (ICSes) that control water storage tanks in Texas also led to a loss of tens of thousands of gallons of water, according to the US Treasury.

"Additionally, CARR compromised the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system of a US energy company, giving them control over the alarms and pumps for tanks in that system," the US Treasury press release stated. "In early May 2024, Degtyarenko developed training materials on how to compromise SCADA systems and was possibly looking to distribute the materials to external groups."

Though the hacktivists managed to gain control of the operational technology (OT) side of things, there's been no major damage to victims due to the group's "lack of technical sophistication," according to the feds.