Something Fishy Going On? Hackers Infiltrate MH17 Investigation

MH17 investigators hacked by Pawn Storm hacking group

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The MH17 investigation led by the Dutch Safety Board have been hacked, according to a report from researchers Trend Micro.

The hacking group, known as ‘Pawn Storm’, have a history of targeting groups critical of Russia, including those who oppose Russia’s presence in Syria.

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Businessinsider.com reports:

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Pawn Storm sent out fake log-in request emails to investigators working for the Dutch Safety Board in an effort to get them to enter their personal details, allowing hackers access to sensitive information.

It’s not clear what data the hackers obtained.

“We discovered that a fake server mimicking an SFTP server of the Dutch Safety Board was set up on September 28, 2015; later a fake VPN server of the same organization was set up on October 14, 2015.

It is very likely these were used for credential phishing attacks against personnel of the Safety Board in order to get unauthorized access to both the SFTP and the VPN server,” Feike Hacquebord of Trend Micro wrote.

The group has also targeted the White House and the NATO, using similar methods to gain access to sensitive data. Much of work from “Pawn Storm” focuses on individuals and activists within Russia, however.