Russian hackers posed as Islamic State during cyberattack, French investigators say

Russian hackers allegedly posed as members of the Islamic State group during an attack on a French-language television broadcaster.

French authorities said the so-called “CyberCaliphate,” which breached TV5Monde computer systems April 8, was really the work of a Russian group called APT28, or Pawn Storm, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

“We’re focusing on the Russian angle,” a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office said of the ongoing investigation, The Journal reported.

The Russian government denies any involvement in April’s cyberattack.

“We’re asking ourselves why the Russians would attack us. We don’t have the slightest idea,” said Yves Bigot, the chief executive of TV5Monde, The Journal reported.

Damage from the attack was valued at $5.6 million, the newspaper reported.

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