DCLeaks

DCLeaks (also known as DC Leaks) was a website that was established in June 2016. It was responsible for publishing leaks of emails belonging to multiple prominent figures in the United States government and military. Cybersecurity research firms determined the site is a front for the Russian cyber-espionage group Fancy Bear. On July 13, 2018, an indictment was made against 12 Russian GRU military officers; it alleged that DCLeaks is part of a Russian military operation to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The site is thought by private cybersecurity analysts and the US intelligence community to be a part of Russian interference in the 2016 US elections. Cybersecurity research firm ThreatConnect concluded that the DCLeaks project showed the hallmarks of Russian intelligence, matching the attack pattern of the GRU hacker group Fancy Bear. ThreatConnect determined that the site is likely linked to Russian persona Guccifer 2.0 and the GRU-linked hacker group Fancy Bear. According to the DCLeaks site's "About" page, their aim is "to find out and tell you the truth about U.S. decision-making process as well as about the key elements of American political life." Of themselves, they say that they were launched by "the American hacktivists who respect and appreciate freedom of speech, human rights and government of the people." On July 13, 2018 a federal grand jury for the District of Columbia indicted 12 members of Unit 26165 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) for creating the false identity DCLeaks website, hacking the Democratic National Committee and releasing stolen data on the website. The domain name dcleaks.com was registered on April 19, 2016, on the THCservers.com and the files were hosted by Shinjiru Technology during the electoral campaign. The dcleaks.com website was launched in June 2016. On August 12, 2016, the press reported that one DNC computer had been breached for nearly a year, from the summer of 2015 and another in April 2016.