[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on a Russian research institute involved in the development of malicious software that causes critical industrial damage on the 23rd (local time).
The Treasury Department stated in a press release that the Central Scientific Research Institute, which conducts chemical and mechanical research under the support of the Russian government, supported a cyberattack using malicious software on petrochemical facilities in the Middle East in August 2017.
This software, named 'Trition,' was designed to target industrial safety systems and manipulate them, and the Treasury Department claimed that the Russian research institute is responsible for the development of the program.
The Treasury added that attackers behind Trition were reported to have examined and investigated vulnerabilities targeting at least 20 power companies in the U.S. last year.
Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, expressed concern, saying, "The Russian government continues to engage in dangerous cyber activities targeting the United States and our allies."
This sanction was imposed two days after John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence (DNI), revealed that Russia and Iran are attempting to interfere in the U.S. presidential election by obtaining voter information. The Treasury also sanctioned five Iranian organizations the previous day for spreading false information related to the election.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
