CRS Reports – Russian Cyber Units

This week, the Congressional Research Service published a report on “Russian Cyber Units”. This is a short (2 page) overview of the history of Russian cyber operations and the various organizations within the Russian government that conduct such operations.

Two interesting points were made in the closing section of the report:

“Like other government agencies, Russian security services face challenges recruiting qualified personnel. Private sector opportunities and rival agencies compete for talent. As noted, this often causes Russian security services to outsource operations to civilian and criminal hackers.”

“Russia’s security services also are known for high levels of corruption. Russian security and intelligence agents have been unmasked and identified through information often reportedly sold by corrupt security officers.”