Russians may have been involved in the so-called Cybercaliphate, the hacker service of IS. Sources at the German security services assume that a number of hacks carried out by the ‘IS hackers’ were commissioned by the Kremlin.
This is reported by the generally well-established Der Spiegel, based on sources at the German security service. Suspicions of Russian involvement arose after an attack on French TV channel TV5 Monde, which was briefly taken off the air last year. A link to the Russians was also found in attacks on American government services. Although IS propaganda was spread in the Cybercaliphate attacks, the Germans suspect that it is a so-called false flag operation.
Der Spiegel was unable to provide detailed evidence regarding Russian involvement in the Cypercaliphate, so it’s unclear exactly how the lines run to the Kremlin. The German newspaper does state that the security services assume that IS is not capable of carrying out such complex hacks.
Russian government hackers are regularly accused of attacks, especially in the United States. Recently, US Democratic Party servers were hacked, with many documents stolen. An attack on the German Bundestag was also attributed to Russian state hackers. The heightened tensions between Russia and the West may be related to the rise in government-controlled hackers.