Cyber Fraud and Russian Hackers: Trends, Analysis, and Implications

This essay delves into the realm of cybercrime, specifically focusing on cyber fraud and the significant role played by Russian hackers. It begins by defining cyber fraud as a deliberate deception involving unauthorized access to data and highlights the increasing prevalence of these online scams. The essay then explores recent trends in cybercrime, particularly the involvement of Russian-based hackers, examining their attacks on various nations and sectors, including the Target cyber-attack. It provides a detailed overview of cyber-attacks initiated by Russia since 2000, including attacks on Estonia, Georgia, Ukraine, and Germany, demonstrating Russia's accountability for numerous cyber fraud breaches. Furthermore, the essay discusses cyber warfare led by Russia, analyzing the reasons behind Russia's aggressive hacking campaigns, including the country's economic hardships and technological prowess. The analysis section examines Russia's investment in cyber capabilities and the sophistication of their attacks, concluding that Russia is a significant group committing cyber fraud, driven by factors such as expertise in gathering intelligence and a history of state-sponsored cyber activities. The essay offers a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of cybercrime and the impact of Russian hackers on global cybersecurity.

Running head: CYBER CRIME
Cyber Crime
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Introduction
Internet fraud or cyber fraud can be described as a deception that is carried out by making
use of the internet. Cyber fraud is mainly referred to as a type of deliberate deception linked with
unfair and unlawful access to data1. Cyber frauds encompass factors that involve unauthorized
access to the computers, engaging in data mining by making use of spyware or malware, and
hacking into the digital systems to gain illegal access to the personal data that include the details
of credit card, social security numbers, and others. These online scams have been increasing over
the years, and it intends in the collection of the personal and confidential information of the
users2. This criminal activity generally begins when a hacker gains illegal access to computer
networks. It is a deliberate deception that aims in unfair and unlawful accesses of the major
information. Cyber fraud further refers to the process of data break-ins and identity theft that
cause serious damage.
The hackers in Russia, along with the different parts of the ex-Soviet Union is liable for a
greater number of cyber fraud breaches that need attention3. The essay aims to discuss the main
reason behind the same. The essay will identify whether the hackers in Russia are the most
significant groups of criminals who are committing cyber frauds. The essay will evaluate the
different types of cyber frauds since 2000 and will try to analyze whether the hackers based in
1 Connell, M. and Vogler, S., 2017. Russia's Approach to Cyber Warfare (1Rev) (No. DOP-2016-U-014231-1Rev).
Center for Naval Analyses Arlington United States
2 Nocetti, J., 2015. Contest and conquest: Russia and global internet governance. International Affairs, 91(1),
pp.111-130.
3 Thornton, R., 2015. The changing nature of modern warfare: responding to Russian information warfare. The
RUSI Journal, 160(4), pp.40-48.

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Russia are accountable for several cyber fraud breaches that are occurring. The reason behind the
same is addressed in the following paragraphs of the essay.
1. Cyber Fraud and Recent trends in Cybercrimes
Cyber fraud can be described as a deliberate deception for unfair and unlawful access to
data that is stored in a system4. Access to any unauthorized computer system to gain valuable
data or for doing any harm to the users. Illegal access to the personal information of any users of
the system can be a result of cyber fraud.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of cybercrimes all over the
world, be it Wanna cry ransomware attack or Target attack. One significant trend that has been
observed in the recent cyber-attacks is that it is being undertaken and implemented by hackers
based in Russia5. The report aims in the evaluation of this recent trend in cyber-attack and further
analyses the reason behind hackers in Russia being the most significant group behind the
increasing cyber frauds. Cyber-attacks by Russia are considered to be a real threat, and therefore
this threat is needed to be addressed6. Before that, the analysis of the cyber-attacks that have
occurred over the years by Russia is needed to be identified.
Researches indicate that Russian cybercriminals have targeted the UK in 49 separate
incidents in recent times. The National Cyber Security Center has responded to several incidents
4 Renz, B., 2016. Russia and ‘hybrid warfare’. Contemporary Politics, 22(3), pp.283-300.
5Giles, K., 2016. The next phase of Russian information warfare (Vol. 20). Riga: NATO Strategic Communications
Centre of Excellence.
6Renz, B. and Smith, H., 2016. Russia and Hybrid warfare-going beyond the label

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that are linked with Russian cyber groups7. There is no denying the fact that the Russian Cyber
group has targeted UK amongst others, which expands to a number of sectors. The Russian
backed cyber groups are also known for NotPetya cyber-attack. One of the most prominent
factors behind increasing cybercrimes by the Russian group is that the Russian government turns
a blind eye to the cybercriminals. Russian law enforcement generally has the idea of what is
going on; however, until cybersecurity fraud is constrained to the other parts of world, the
Russian government does not care.
1.1. Target Cyber Attack
The Target cyber-attack is one of the largest cyber-attacks that affected almost 40 million
payment cards at a peak holiday. In this particular cyber-attack, the hackers worked at an
extraordinary speed by carrying out the hacking operation in a period of 19 days. The cyber-
fraud was done in such a sophisticated manner that even Target could not detect the attack on its
own and was later alerted by credit card processors who have identified an increase in the
fraudulent transactions8. The attack was quite sophisticated as the investigators could not
understand the process in which the attack was carried out.
2. Russian Cyber-attack on Other Nations
The Russian government has mounted several cyber-attacks in foreign countries since the
year 2000. This section of the essay will provide a detailed idea of the different cyber-attacks
that were initiated by Russia.
7Bernik, I., 2014. Cybercrime and cyber warfare. John Wiley & Sons.
8Giles, K., 2016. The next phase of Russian information warfare (Vol. 20). Riga: NATO Strategic Communications
Centre of Excellence

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In the year 2007, Russia led a distributed denial-of-service attack on the government
office and the other financial institution of Estonia. In the next year, a similar attack was led on
the Baltic, where the Russian hackers defaced the web pages of the government. In August 2009,
the Russian hackers had closed down Facebook and Twitter in Georgia to memorialize the very
first anniversary of invasion by Russia. In May 2014, a hacking group based in Russia had taken
down the election commission of Ukrainian in an attack that was laid overnight9. In March 2014,
Russian hackers had initiated a DDOS attack, which was 32 times greater than the largest known
cyber-attack. In May 2015, Russia led an attack on the network of German Bundestag, which has
been one of the most substantial hacks in German history. In December same year, the Russian
hackers took control of the Ukrainian power station that locked the controllers out of the
specified system. There are several other examples of cybersecurity attacks that were led by
Russia. Thus, it can be said that Russia is accountable for a huge amount of noteworthy cyber
frauds, and therefore, the most significant reason behind these cyber frauds are needed to be
addressed.
Apart from that, the Russian security services were behind several denial of service
attacks in consideration of their cyber-warfare against other countries such as in Estonia, France,
Georgia, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, and the United States10. Cyber-attacks by Russia and
various parts of Ex-Soviet Union are considered to be most prominent cybercrime hotspots
across the globe.
3. Cyberwarfare by Russia
9Stiennon, R., 2015. A short history of cyber warfare. Cyber Warfare: A Multidisciplinary Analysis, 7.
10Bachmann, S.D. and Gunneriusson, H., 2015. Russia's hybrid warfare in the east: the integral nature of the
information sphere. Geo. J. Int'l Aff., 16, p.198

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The Cyberwarfare lead by Russia mainly involves certain cybersecurity attacks including
the denial of service attacks, surveillance over the internet, persecution of various cyber-
dissidents and others. In less than a decade ago, Russia has been on an international program of a
cyber-warfare that is sponsored by the state, with the aim of proving the technological prowess11.
The hacking operations of Russia have become extremely damaging to every target. Therefore,
Russia is generally perceived as a universal hegemon of cyber warfare. Over the past ten years, a
wide amount of synchronized cyber-attacks have been initiated by Russia across several,
government and private organizations across the globe12. Russia has been known for causing
worldwide chaos through a succession of hacks across the globe. Russia and other parts of
former Soviet Union are known to make use of advanced technology for formation of several
personalized social media communications that carry malware and viruses.
One of the leading questions that arise is linked with the reason behind this nation’s
injurious hacking campaign. The reason must not be limited to the demonstration of the technical
competencies of the nation in the evolution of modern warfare. Russia shows no sign of slowing
down, and their attack improves in sophistication with every passing day.
The identification of the reason behind this nation being the most prominent group
behind cyber-attacks is linked with understanding the history of the country. Russia was formed
in the year 1991, with the fall of the Soviet Union. The country has suffered immense economic
11Mazanec, B.M. and Thayer, B., 2014. Deterring Cyber Warfare: Bolstering Strategic Stability in Cyberspace.
Springer.
12Bērziņš, J., 2015. Russian new generation warfare is not hybrid warfare. The War in Ukraine: Lessons for Europe,
p.40.

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hardship in those years and the fragile economy of Russia had led to choosing an incorrect way
of gaining money. This is furthermore possible as the Soviet Union had a well-developed
Science and technology infrastructure that was maintained by the State13. Later there were
various state-sponsored measures, that were taken in Russia for technological innovation and or
establishment of four new technoparks.
In the year 2005, the state started investing in the technology companies of the private
sector for its overseas expansion. The government’s investment in technological sector is mainly
linked with the political goal of influencing global trade and for becoming greatly competitive in
the significant areas. The Russian government along with the state-sponsored companies, with
the aim of regaining certain control over the different areas of influence. The intensive state
investment has resulted in increase in cyber warfare14. Russia’s GDP lagged to a considerable
amount and the country on realizing that no investment would be enough for fast economic
growth, the country restored in incapacitating the other countries across the globe.
Researches indicate that the ongoing program of Russian cyber-attack had begun 11 years
ago, and it was simplified by various factors. Russia had a good history of having really good
programmers, which they have made use of in the execution of these serious cybercrimes. The
very first cyber-crime that was committed Russia was a targeted attack at Estonia in the year
2007 that was followed by a diplomatic war on the Soviet war memorial. The hackers in Russia
carried out a distributed denial-of-service attack that blocked the intended users from accessing a
13Chen, J. and Dinerman, A., 2016, July. On cyber dominance in modern warfare. In European Conference on
Cyber Warfare and Security (p. 52). Academic Conferences International Limited.
14Friis, K. and Ringsmose, J. eds., 2016. Conflict in Cyber Space: Theoretical, Strategic and Legal Pespectives.
Routledge

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system. With this wide-scale DDOs attacks, the hackers in Russia made online banking
unavailable by disrupting the email system and also by preventing the Estonian media outlets
from distributing this particular news15. The shocking part of this attack was that Russia
practically made no attempt in concealing the fact that it was behind this particular attack16. It
was the start of the attack, and since then, Russian hackers have been behind the most
widespread attacks across the globe.
In the initial years, the Russian state mainly supported the major hacking program, and at
that time, Russia was mostly stuck to the minor targets linked with ex-soviet countries. However,
the year 2016, Russian hackers boarded on the major task of shifting the result of the main US
election. This hacking activity was widespread, and it further involved an organized distribution
of several fake news over social media17. The success of this hack further increased the
frequency of hacking across the globe. The use of sophisticated technology in the hack has
resulted in an increase in the cyber-attacks initiated by Russia. Russia had made cyber-hacking a
fatal tool in the current world of warfare, and the main reason behind the same is increase in the
economic and technological power of the company.
Cybercrime has become a deadly tool in this warfare and Russia has adopted this warfare
for its great advantage. With the aim of increasing monetary and technological power, these
myriad attacks were initiated by consolidating technological and economic power.
15Lieber, K., 2014. The offense-defense balance and cyber warfare. Cyber Analogies, pp.96-107.
16Erol, M.S., 2015. Hybrid Warfare Studies and Russia’s Example in Crimea. Gazi Akademik Bakış, 9(17), pp.261-
277.
17Thomas, T., 2014. Russia’s Information Warfare Strategy: Can the Nation Cope in Future Conflicts?. The Journal
of Slavic Military Studies, 27(1), pp.101-130.

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4. Analysis
In this section of the essay, the main reason behind the Soviet Union being responsible
for a larger number of cyber frauds will be analyzed. The cyber challenge in Russia is not as new
as the first known cyber-attack was initiated by Moscow against the US military in the year
1986. The roots of the global cyber power that is possessed by Russia mainly lie in the expertise
of gathering intelligence18. Right from the year 2000, Russia has invested in cyber capabilities
for combating the online information campaign. Along with the various hostile acts in
cyberspace, Russia has been quite active since early 2000s. The cyber diplomacy of Russia has
gone hand-in-hand with the increase of the assertive behavior in cyberspace. On analysis of the
trends of Russian cyber-attacks, it has been observed that some of those cyber-attacks were
designed for sabotaging a physical infrastructure19. The international organizations are targeted
for cyber frauds by Russia. The international organizations are mainly targeted, which include
WADA and OPCW.
The question that arises from this discussion is how it is prominent that Russia is the most
significant group that is known for committing cyber fraud. Russia’s cyber-attacks are seen to
have elicited various responses and there have been instances, when there were times, the
Russian hackers were watching their attacks in real time20. The sophistication of the attacks was
18Bachmann, S.D. and Gunneriusson, H., 2015. Russia's hybrid warfare in the east: the integral nature of the
information sphere. Geo. J. Int'l Aff., 16, p.198.
19Medvedev, S.A., 2015. Offense-defense theory analysis of Russian cyber capability. NAVAL POSTGRADUATE
SCHOOL MONTEREY CA.
20Jones, S., 2014. Ukraine: Russia’s new art of war. Financial Times, 28, p.2014

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quite prominent that demonstrates how cyber-attacks were successfully carried out. The country
Russia undoubtedly has one of the world’s greatest cyber powers. The country has an extremely
sophisticated capabilities of integration of the cyber tools in the foreign security policy. The high
profile publicity that Russia has received in recent years due to its cyber operations and the cyber
frauds have forced a number of states in investing in cybersecurity so that defensive cyber
actions against Russia can be enforced. Due to increase in cyber frauds by Russia and several
parts of the ex-Soviet Union, US along with other European states have adopted assertive cyber
strategies over the years.
However, Russia is not the lone source of cybercrimes over Europe. There are certain
other malicious cyber actors across the globe other than Russia, which are China, Iran, North
Korea and others21. However, the rate of cyber fraud initiated by Russia is significantly large. For
understanding the reason behind the same, it is quite necessary to analyze political thinking and
the strategies behind cyber developments in Russia. In this context, the role of cyber in Russian
domestic is needed to be addressed.
The success of Russia’s cyber warfare is mainly associated with two main factors. The
foreign policy of Russia includes aggressive cyber components involve denial of service attacks
on the neighboring countries as a method of punishing the actions of the neighboring countries
21Fox, A.C. and Rossow, A.J., 2016. Assessing Russian Hybrid Warfare: A Successful Tool for Limited
War. Journal Article, 8(3).

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for having a counter to Russian interest22. The growing prominence of cyber components has
already begun to blur the line between the domestic and the external policy as well.
One main consequence of the aggressive cyber tactics of Russia is based on its continued
role in Russia’s aggressive cyber tactics that is mainly combined with continued denial of any
role involvement of cyber-attack leading to a complete loss of trust in Russia among the western
cyber expert community and western government23. Russia has created an environment where it
is seen as a prime suspect for majority of the cyber-attack that is conducted in the West and
therefore, the policy of plausible deniability no longer works for Russia and also reinforces the
perception of Russia being one of the pugnacious actors of foreign policy.
The increase in the number of cyber-crime and cyber fraud has resulted in a situation
where Russia is considered to be the prime suspect for any type of attack and thus, the prime
suspect for the cyber-attack on the Einter Olympic Games on PyeongChang was Russia. In this
cyber-attack, internet access to the broadcast system was disabled and shut down, which
prevented the spectators from printing any tickets. The analysis of this case indicates that hackers
had aimed to disrupt the Olympics by destroying the rata on the servers. Thus it can be said that
Russia can no longer hide behind the mask of deniability as its reputation makes it the prime
suspect of any major cyber-attacks.
22Iasiello, E.J., 2017. Russia's Improved Information Operations: From Georgia to Crimea. Parameters, 47(2).
Jones, S., 2014. Ukraine: Russia’s new art of war. Financial Times, 28, p.2014.
23Iasiello, E.J., 2017. Russia's Improved Information Operations: From Georgia to Crimea. Parameters, 47(2).
Jones, S., 2014. Ukraine: Russia’s new art of war. Financial Times, 28, p.2014.

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However, the increased assertiveness in cyberspace has resulted in an increase in great
powers with wider bandwidth for reassessing the vulnerabilities associated with the cyber
defense infrastructure. The cybercrime marketplace continues its growth to make it more
automated and sophisticated. The main aim of the increase in cybercrime in Russia is money
laundering. Since the GDP of the country is quite low, the hackers may not get the due salary
while working for a good cause while they can earn quite more by adopting the process of
hacking. The Russian government further is responsible for the same as they do not try to
identify and punish these hackers. They continue to look the other way for cybercrime as long as
those cybercriminals abstain from attacking any Russian target24. Perhaps, these hackers agree to
look after and assist in the security service of the state as well with their hacking, and therefore
the Russian government does not try to stop the initiation of these cyber frauds.
The Russian cybercrime market is mainly known all over the world. There are two main
factors linked with Russian cybercrime. The first factor involves frequent and global media
coverage for the different cyber fraud activities. The second factor is that it helps in getting open
accessibility to the online platforms that are used by the cybercriminals in promoting different
variety of services and products.
The discussion indicates that the cybercrimes that are initiated by Russia mainly aim in
economic benefits. Russia and other parts of former Soviet Union are considered to be the major
group for committing cybercrimes.
Conclusion
24Chivvis, C.S., 2017. Understanding Russian Hybrid Warfare. Rand Corporation