U.S. intelligence: Russian hackers behind Qatar crisis

U.S investigators said they believe Russian hackers could have masterminded Qatar’s states news agency by placing fabricated information that lead to the rift among the US strongest allies, US officials who briefed on the investigation say. As reported by CNN, the Federal Bureau of Investigation recently dispatched a team of investigators to Doha to assist the government of Qatar carry out thorough investigation, officials from Qatari and US government stated.

Intelligence findings

Intelligence reports by security agencies in the United States shows that Russian hackers were responsible for the intrusion, which was initially reported by the Qatari government about two weeks ago, US has the largest military base in the region in Qatar, according to US officials.

The claimed involvement by Russian hackers heightens fears by US intelligence and security agencies that Russia keeps on attempting some the same cyber-attacking tactics on allies of the United States that law enforcement and intelligence agencies believed adopted to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Administration officials say Russian main aim seems to be to trigger fracas among the United States and its closest allies, recently, Fake News stories believed to be Russian cyber activities have resurfaced following the elections in France, Germany and some other countries.

Identifying the hackers

The US has not yet traced the hackers in the Qatari situation to either Russian criminal outfits or the Russian security organizations accused for the US presidential election hacks. An official stated that considering previous intelligence, nothing much happens in Russia without the government’s support.

FBI and CIA officials refused to comment due to the sensitive nature of the matter. In a statement by a spokeswoman for the Qatari embassy in Washington, says an investigation was going on smoothly and the findings would be made available to the public very soon.

Circulation of fake news

In May 23, the Qatari government reported that fake news emanated from its Qatar News Agency where the country’s ruler was friendly to both Israel and Iran and doubted if President Trump would stay longer in office.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani Qatari Minister of foreign affairs told reporters that FBI has verified the hack and the implantation of fake news.

“Whatever allegation that has been thrown is all based on wrong information and we believe that the whole crisis being centered on misinformation, the foreign minister told reporters.

In response to the alleged fake news report, Qatar’s Arab neighbors, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, severed political and economic ties, creating a wider crisis.