U.S. Charges Russian FSB Officers for Decade-Long Energy Sector Cyber Campaign
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged three Russian FSB officers for their role in a decade-long cyber security campaign targeting energy sector entities worldwide. The charges, announced in August 2021, allege that the officers aimed to disrupt and damage facilities by obtaining unauthorized access to their systems.
The campaign, attributed to the Russia-linked cyber actor Static Tundra, was carried out in two phases. Between 2012 and 2014, the group conducted a supply chain attack, targeting hundreds of U.S. and international energy companies. From 2014 to 2017, they shifted to more targeted attacks on specific energy sector entities. The group's primary targets were Ukraine and NATO member states.
The FBI has warned of Static Tundra's continued activity. In August 2025, they reported that the group was exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities in end-of-life networking devices running Cisco Smart Install (SMI) to gain unauthorized access. The group is known to have altered configurations of thousands of U.S. critical infrastructure devices for backdoor access and reconnaissance, showing interest in ICS-related protocols.
The U.S. Department of State is offering up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the three FSB officers involved in the campaign: Pavel Aleksandrovich Akulov, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gavrilov, and Marat Valeryevich Tyukov. All three are members of the FSB's Center 16 unit, also known as Dragonfly, Berzerk Bear, Energetic Bear, and Crouching Yeti. The charges and the FBI's warning highlight the ongoing threat posed by state-sponsored cyber security actors to critical infrastructure.
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