Cyberattack on Reporters Without Borders Linked to Russian Security Services

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Monday that a group linked to Russia’s security services (FSB) was responsible for a failed cyber attack on the organization earlier this year.

In a statement, the French nongovernmental organization – which works to protect journalists and media freedom – said that this finding was the result of a months-long investigation “conducted with technical support from the French cybersecurity company Sekoia,” beginning after the attack was detected in the spring of 2025.

“RSF is regularly targeted by digital operations against its IT systems and its reputation due to the NGO’s work in defence of a free press and the right to reliable information in Russia,” the statement reads.

In March 2025, an RSF employee was the target of a phishing attack. In other words, they received an email – supposedly from a legitimate source – which contained an infected document or malicious link. 

Instead of opening it, however, the employee reported it to the RSF cybersecurity team, who passed it on to Sequoia. 

According to Sequoia’s official report, Calisto (also known as ColdRiver or Star Blizzard) is a “Russia-nexus intrusion set active since at least April 2017, attributed by the USA, the UK, New Zealand and Australia to the Russian intelligence service FSB.”

On Monday, RSF Director of Advocacy and Assistance Antoine Bernard said that the attack was not a matter of chance.

Other Topics of Interest

Germany Warns of Russian Orbital Nuclear Threat

Major General Michael Traut, commander of the Bundeswehr Space Command, has voiced grave concerns that Russia may be developing the capability to detonate a nuclear weapon in low-Earth orbit (LEO). Such an event would devastate global satellite infrastructure, potentially wiping out a third of LEO satellites and triggering a catastrophic debris cascade known as the Kessler syndrome.

“RSF, which defends global press freedom and actively assists Russian journalists fleeing their country, is a regular target of the Kremlin and the constellation surrounding Vladimir Putin’s regime,” he added.

In August 2025, the Kremlin officially designated RSF as an “undesirable organization” – meaning that anyone affiliated with it could face up to four years in prison under Russian law.

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) annual report on press freedom, which was published on Tuesday, Russia currently detains more foreign journalists than any other country in the world.

RSF previously co-led an investigation into the last weeks of 27-year-old Ukrainian freelance journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity last year. 

As per the report, only Israel and organized crime groups killed more journalists than Russia in 2025.