WASHINGTON - The US Justice Department said on Feb 15 it disrupted a Russian intelligence hacking network.

"For the second time in two months, we've disrupted state-sponsored hackers from launching cyber-attacks behind the cover of compromised US routers," US Deputy Attorney-General Lisa Monaco said, in a statement.

The Justice Department said that a January 2024 court-authorised operation neutralised the network of hundreds of small office/home office (SOHO) routers controlled by Russian intelligence and used "to conceal and otherwise enable a variety of crimes."

"In this case, Russian intelligence services turned to criminal groups to help them target home and office routers, but the Justice Department disabled their scheme," Attorney-General Merrick Garland added.

Mr Garland said the Justice Department was accelerating efforts to disrupt the Russian government's cyber campaigns against the United States and its partners, including Ukraine. REUTERS