Vladamir Putin’s spies were behind hack of Anti-Doping Agency and US Democrats

RUSSIA'S infamous military spy service the GRU was behind a wave of major global hacking scandals including the World Anti-Doping Agency and the US Democratic party, British spy chiefs have revealed.

GCHQ formally declared Vladimir Putin responsible for 12 attacks last night.

A report published today by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) laid bare the “indiscriminate and reckless cyber attacks” by the shadowy Russian spy agency that targeted political institutions, businesses, media and sport.

Among the bombshell revelations found was evidence that GRU officers stole international athletes’ confidential medical files from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

It comes just days after Wada’s decision to lift the three-year suspension on Russia’s anti-drugs agency following allegations of state-sponsored doping.

The report - compiled by the NCSC - found the GRU was behind the hacking of sensitive Hillary Clinton emails that helped Donald Trump win the 2016 presidency.

It is the first time Britain has independently found a link between the GRU and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hacking scandal.

The spy agency said it the GRU was “almost certainly responsible”.

The GRU was also behind the VPNFilter malware attack that has infected half a million routers worldwide, GCHQ said.

The attack allowed attackers to control infected devices, rendering them inoperable.

It also found the GRU responsible for a string of hacks that brought the Kiev metro to a standstill last year, hacked a Ukrainian airport and also two Russian media outlets.

And it found the Russian military spy agency responsible for the June 2017 cyber attack targeting the Ukranian financial, energy and government sectors, which spread across Europe.

British spy chiefs accused Russia of a “flagrant violation of international law” with the attacks, which had cost national economies millions of pounds.

The NCSC said: “Cyber attacks orchestrated by the GRU have attempted to undermine international sporting institution WADA, disrupt transport systems in Ukraine, and destabilise democracies and target businesses.

“This campaign by the GRU shows that it is working in secret to undermine international law and international institutions.”

Attributing responsibility directly to Mr Putin, the spy bosses concluded: “Given the high confidence assessment and the broader context, the UK government has made the judgement that the Russian Government – the Kremlin – was responsible.”

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “These cyber attacks serve no legitimate national security interest, instead impacting the ability of people around the world to go about their daily lives free from interference, and even their ability to enjoy sport.

“The GRU’s actions are reckless and indiscriminate: they try to undermine and interfere in elections in other countries; they are even prepared to damage Russian companies and Russian citizens.

This pattern of behaviour demonstrates their desire to operate without regard to international law or established norms and to do so with a feeling of impunity and without consequences.

“Our message is clear: together with our allies, we will expose and respond to the GRU’s attempts to undermine international stability.”