The US intelligence agencies believe that Russian hackers breached the state information agency of Qatar and published a fake news report, contributed to a crisis among the closest US allies in the Persian Gulf region. This is reported by CNN. It is mentioned that the FBI recently sent an investigation team to Doha, to assist the Qatar government in the research of the alleged incident involving hackers. Qatar has one of the largest US military bases in the region.
Hackers are confirmed
The data collected by the US security services indicated that Russian hackers were involved in the attack, which was first reported by the Qatari government two weeks ago.
The FBI and CIA did not speak on the matter, but the Qatar Embassy in Washington said that the investigation had been continuing, its results were promised to be promulgated in the near future. Before six Arab countries had broken off the diplomatic relations with Qatar on Monday morning.
"The FBI is working with United Kingdom's National Crime Agency on the ongoing investigations of the Qatar News Agency and confirmed the fake news and hackers behind it", said Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani. The diplomatic crisis around Qatar was caused by the discontent of a number of other states in the region who accused Qatar of supporting terrorist organizations. The Qatari Al-Jazeera news agency claimed that the true cause of the conflict was the crackdown of the resources of the Qatari news agency.
Russia's interference in the elections in 2016
The definite involvement of Russian hackers increases the concern of the intelligence and law enforcement agencies of the United States. Russia continues the attempts to commit the same actions for cyber-hacking, reminding of Russia's interference in the elections in 2016. The US officials said that Russia's goal, apparently, was to cause a split among the US and its allies.
Recently, suspected Russian cyber-activities, including the use of untrue news, appeared against the backdrop of elections in France, Germany, and other countries.
It is still unclear whether Russian hackers had been traced by the US Intelligence in Qatar matter, or Russian hackers were to be blamed for the elections in the US in 2016. On Twitter, Trump cited Qatar's funding of terrorist groups and supports the Qatar for the regional blockade. The Qataris have rejected the terror-funding allegations.
