Russian hackers are not always breaching targets from afar, typing on their keyboards in Moscow bunkers or St. Petersburg apartment buildings. Enter GRU Unit 26165, a military cyber unit with hackers operating remotely and on-site. Going forward, Western intelligence and law enforcement personnel, as well as multinational organizations, would be wise to pay attention. 

This issue brief analyzes the range of Russian government’s involvement with different actors in the large, complex, and often opaque cyber web, as well as the risks and benefits the Kremlin perceives or gets from leveraging actors in this group. The issue brief concludes with three takeaways and actions for policymakers in the United States, as well as in allied and partner countries.

The CCP has embarked on a concerted strategy to gain control over the global digital and information environment. Its goal: create an alternative global order with China at its heart.