Russian hackers have compromised the accounts of influential Bluesky users — NYT
Russian hackers hacked the accounts of real users on the social network Bluesky and posted disinformation on their behalf.
This was reported by The New York Times.
According to Bluesky, researchers at Clemson University, and the dTeam, hundreds of accounts were compromised as part of the campaign, through which several thousand fake posts were disseminated. The activity occurred in waves from April until at least last week.
Journalists, scientists, experts, and cultural figures were targeted.
Among those affected were Pamela Wood, a political correspondent for The Baltimore Banner; Ben Gilbert, a staff member at the Colorado School of Mines; and other professionally influential users.
In some cases, AI-generated videos and fake news were posted on the compromised profiles, including false claims about Ukraine and Western countries’ support for Kyiv.
Researchers link the campaign to Russia’s “Social Engineering Agency,” which, according to experts, is also behind the “Matryoshka” disinformation network.
Experts note that the use of hacked accounts belonging to real, influential users is a new tactic in Russian information operations.
As a reminder, the Russian hacking group Fancy Bear, which is linked to Russian military intelligence, hacked over 280 email accounts of government and military institutions in NATO countries and the Balkans.
Prior to this, hackers gained access to data from the booking site Booking.com, the company reported. The attackers were able to obtain information about customer bookings, and some users received emails on Sunday notifying them of a possible data breach.
