Aleksei Sergeyevich Morenets is an officer of Russian military intelligence (GRU) indicted by the United States on October 4, 2018. According to the Justice Department, he was assigned to GRU Military Unit 26165 and was part of the unit’s “close access” teams, which traveled to target locations to hack networks on site, usually over Wi-Fi. The indictment states that he deployed to Rio de Janeiro to target Wi-Fi networks used by anti-doping officials.

In April 2018 Morenets and three other GRU officers traveled to The Hague on Russian diplomatic passports to hack the network of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which was then investigating the Skripal poisoning. Dutch military intelligence disrupted the operation and expelled the team, which left Wi-Fi hacking equipment in a rental car parked next to the OPCW building. He was charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Charges are allegations, and he remains at large in Russia.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Justice. “U.S. Charges Russian GRU Officers with International Hacking and Related Influence and Disinformation Operations.” Press release, October 4, 2018.
• U.S. Department of Justice. United States v. Aleksei Sergeyevich Morenets et al., indictment. Western District of Pennsylvania, October 3, 2018.

Summary entry. A fuller, document-based profile is in preparation.