On Thursday, U.S. and British authorities said that Russia’s military spy agency is using VPNs and Tor to attack governments and private sector targets.
The advisory did not identify any of the targets by name, saying only that they were mainly in the United States and Europe and included government offices, political parties, energy companies, law firms and media organizations.
The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Russian officials routinely reject allegations that they employ hackers to spy on rival nations.
Check It Out: Russian Spies Abuse VPNs to Target Organizations
TRANSCRIPT FROM POTUS/PUTIN SUMMIT GENEVA 16 JUNE 2021 1342 GMT- DECLASSIFIED
POTUS: And another thing, we know it was your guys who did the Solar Winds hack.
PUTIN: We know nothing about your solar or your wind. It was not us.
POTUS: Well, we did manage to recover a big chunk of that ransom money.
PUTIN: Yes, your people were very clever, and that did, how do you say? Suck. Yes, it sucked.
POTUS: We know that, whether it’s your guys directly or contractors, it’s still you, Mr President, who authorises it, and we want you to knock it off. Or there will be consequences.
PUTIN: We don’t respond to your threats. Besides, we know nothing about your pathetic security protocols, which we don’t hack, but if we wanted to, we could do so easily because your security protocols…how do you say again? Suck. Yes, they suck.
POTUS: If you’re not attacking our protocols, then how would you know they suck?
PUTIN: We hear things. We have our sources.
POTUS: Sounds like they’re knowledgeable sources.
PUTIN: We wouldn’t know.
POTUS: Well, tell your sources they’d better knock it off, or there’ll be consequences. They won’t like it.
PUTIN: We’ll pass that along. Oh, and by the way, your wife’s VISA card is going to expire next month. You should remind her to renew it.