The Russian argued that the agent studied the EE groups. cyberdefenses
The Russian argued that the agent studied the EE groups. cyberdefenses
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A year before they accuse the federal prosecutors. Maria Butina to operate as a secret agent for the RussiaIn government, she was a graduate student at American University working on a delicate project related to cybersecurity.
The assignment of Butina University called her to gather information about the cyber defenses of non-profit organizations in the United States that defend the freedom of the media and human rights, according to the Associated Press. It was information that could help groups to cover important vulnerabilities, but it would also be of interest to the Russian government.
In fact, the Russians previously had in their sights at least two of the groups with which she and other students interacted.
Butina participated in the project under the tutelage of a respected professor who advised the Department of State on cybersecurity issues. It was carried out for the non-profit group Internews, which works extensively with the United States government to boost the free flow of information on dangerous parts of the world and has attracted Russian wrath with some of its programs in Russia and the neighboring countries. The group also advises other non-profit organizations on cybersecurity.
Internews confirmed Butina's participation and a broad description of what the project implied. A lawyer from Butina did not respond to a request for comment.
The Butina project raised few eyebrows before its arrest in July, despite the fact that news reports had already raised questions about its rapid increase in the sale of furniture in Siberia and its links with Kremlin officials.
As part of the project, a small group of students led by Butina received a list of Internews partners working on human rights and press freedom issues only for research purposes, with the understanding that they can not be contacted without consulting. But the students contacted some of the groups anyway, according to the people involved in the project who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to describe the work.
A person who has worked in EE programs. UU In Ukraine told the AP that after the arrest of Butina was informed by US officials. UU They expressed concern that two Internews programs in Ukraine, dealing with media freedom and cybersecurity and that the State Department has funded exposed to Russian intelligence and may be at risk due to the work of Butina students.
State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said the department was not involved with the Internews project in which Butina worked.
"We have verified that all the documents that Internews provided to its students were publicly available, and we trust the integrity of the State Department programs with Internews," he said.
Kostiantyn Kvurt, who heads a local non-profit organization that Internews helped establish, Internews Ukraine, said he was unaware of Butina's project before the PA informed him about it, but he was already suspicious of possible Russian intelligence interference.
"If they understand how to break our firewalls, they could find our partners," Kvurt said. "People could be arrested, tortured, killed."
Internews said students never had access to work or group systems.
"The selection of the students and their roles and activities in the research was determined exclusively by the professors of the UA," spokeswoman Laura Stein Lindamood said. "Internews is reviewing our relationship with student projects led by the university."
The access that Butina obtained through her courses illustrates how the academic world and the extensive network of entities that often carry out sensitive, but unclassified, jobs remain vulnerable to the government of the United States.
In this case, all institutions expected someone else to veto Butina. Internews thought that American University was behind her; the university said it does not do background checks and expects the State Department to examine foreign applicants completely before issuing visas.
Prosecutors allege in court documents that attending college was Butina's "coverage" while cultivating political contacts and ties to the National Rifle Association. They claim that she was part of a clandestine campaign of political influence led by a former Russian legislator who has been sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department for his alleged links with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
John Sipher, who once led the Russian operations of the CIA, said Butina fits the profile of the untrained asset type that is often used to help identify spy targets without attracting attention from counterintelligence, which often it focuses on high-level contacts with government officials.
"The project is perfect, because a student can legitimately do that research," Sipher said. "You can imagine why it would be interesting, it's a kind of gold mine."
The Butina student project was led by Eric Novotny, a cybersecurity expert who has a high security clearance as an advisor to the State Department. One of the Novotny courses at the UA was called "Cyber warfare, terrorism, espionage and crime". The goal of the project was to help Internews identify ways in which it could help US-based non-profit organizations improve their cybersecurity.
Novotny told the AP that even after the press reports about Butina raised questions about his connections with the Russian government, he was obligated to treat her like any other student.
"I have always observed the policies and regulations of the university throughout my academic career," he said.
The university declined to comment, citing federal privacy rules.
After the spring semester, Butina and three other students enrolled in the study and work project, according to people familiar with the work, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
One of the organizations contacted by Butina, the prominent digital rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation, had frequent contact with Internews on cybersecurity issues before and had been a Russian target. But Butina did not mention Internews in an encrypted email dated June 14, 2017 reviewed by AP.
In the email, addressed to the director of cybersecurity, Eva Galperin, she wrote: "My name is Maria Butina and I am the captain of a group of American University students who are researching in the US (Civil society organizations). and its cybersecurity problems, we have several questions about the cybersecurity concerns faced by human rights organizations and their experience would be very beneficial. "
Novotny, who was then interviewed by the FBI about Butina, learned that his instructions on not reaching his partners were ignored when the cybersecurity adviser of a non-profit organization called him after suspecting that a Russian student was asking for cybernetic vulnerabilities. He severely warned the students not to ignore the protocol.
Research published by The Citizen Lab, based at the University of Toronto, which analyzes piracy attempts in Russia, found that civil society groups ranked behind governments as the most frequent targets. The investigation found that, more often, Russian spies were trying to determine with whom the organizations worked in places of strategic interest.
"The Russian security services see civil society groups as a threat and treat their local partners with great suspicion." said John Scott-Railton, a cybersecurity researcher at Citizen Lab.
AP found no evidence that Butina had passed any information about the university project to Moscow, but the work allowed her to contact potential Russian targets.
It is unclear why Butina's work raised concerns about the two Internews programs in Ukraine, which have not been the focus of the prosecutors' case against him. But Ukraine has been a critical point of tensions between the United States and Russia, where the two countries compete for influence.
I know. UU They run multiple programs aimed at strengthening democracy and fostering pro-Western sentiment in Russia's backyard and in parts of the world where the United States and Russia are competing for influence. They are often administered by contractors or non-profit groups. By penetrating the programs, the Russians could determine with whom the organizations work and know details about their security measures.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation often helps train civil society groups at risk, both in the United States and abroad. In recent years, it has also focused its attention on the scourge of state-sponsored malicious software, publishing reports on alleged government-backed piracy campaigns in Kazakhstan, Syria and Lebanon.
In 2015, the organization said that Google had alerted him to a fake EFF site "almost certainly" operated by the infamous Russian ring of cyberespionage, now known as Fancy Bear. The US authorities UU They say that the hackers, who shook the US presidential campaign. UU From 2016 to publish tens of thousands of emails from Democrats, are members of the Russian military intelligence agency.
Galperin said he had a conference call with Butina and the other students, but he did not make the connection with the arrested Russian until AP contacted him. She said the students asked general questions about the threat landscape, and that she did not transmit sensitive information.
Butina later expanded her search for contacts, publishing a request for the project on Facebook that began: "The poor students of S.O.S need help from civil society organizations!"
"My dear FB friends and American supporters, I am looking for volunteers for a brief interview from civil society organizations in the United States for a student research project," he wrote in July. "If you are a leader of a registered organization in the United States that deals with human rights (nationally or overseas) and is willing to talk online (via Skype or a conference call) .. send me a private message. "
Novotny was not informed about the post.
After the group of students prepared a report for Internews, Butina continued his studies of cybernetic politics. Shortly after her spring semester ended this year, US authorities accused her of trying to influence the leading politicians of the United States and of infiltrating political organizations on behalf of the Russian government.
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Associated Press writer Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.
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Follow Desmond Butler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/desmondbutler
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