Malicious news websites with articles purporting to be from legitimate journalists have been leveraged by Russia-based threat operation Storm-1516 as part of a new disinformation campaign against Armenia, France, Germany, Moldova, and Norway, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Attacks involved the use of real journalists' names and photos on bylines for the fraudulent stories, which included an article supposedly written by Public magazine journalist Romain Fiaschetti accusing French nuclear firm Orano's radioactive waste disposal efforts in Armenia and donations to a fund connected to the country's prime minister, according to a report from fact-checking initiative Gnida Project. Other false stories spread by the group involved made-up accusations of U.S. aid embezzlement against Moldovan President Maia Sandu and allegations of illegal polar bear killings by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Canada. Such findings come after Storm-1516 was noted by French authorities to be a formidable threat to European public debate.
Attacks involved the use of real journalists' names and photos on bylines for the fraudulent stories, which included an article supposedly written by Public magazine journalist Romain Fiaschetti accusing French nuclear firm Orano's radioactive waste disposal efforts in Armenia and donations to a fund connected to the country's prime minister, according to a report from fact-checking initiative Gnida Project. Other false stories spread by the group involved made-up accusations of U.S. aid embezzlement against Moldovan President Maia Sandu and allegations of illegal polar bear killings by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Canada. Such findings come after Storm-1516 was noted by French authorities to be a formidable threat to European public debate.
