CEP Magazine (January 2021)

The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against the State Research Center of the Russian Federation FGUP Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics, or TsNIIKhM, on October 23.^[1]

The research center is accused of using malware to target facilities in the Middle East in 2017 and again in the US in 2019. The attack in the Middle East focused on a petrochemical facility, while the US attacks were probes to identify security vulnerabilities in the domestic energy infrastructure.

“‘The Russian Government continues to engage in dangerous cyber activities aimed at the United States and our allies,’” said Secretary Steven Mnuchin.^[2] “‘This Administration will continue to aggressively defend the critical infrastructure of the United States from anyone attempting to disrupt it.’”

1 Maggie Miller, “Treasury sanctions Russian group accused of targeting US critical facilities with destructive malware,” The Hill, October 23, 2020, https://bit.ly/2Jhofdf.
2 United States Department of the Treasury, “Treasury Sanctions Russian Government Research Institution Connected to the Triton Malware,” news release, October 23, 2020, https://bit.ly/3oDTAax

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