Russian Spies Accused of Leaking Climate Emails

The hackers behind the leaked climate change emails were none other than the Russian secret service, say higher-ups at the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Panel members say the hack was a sophisticated, professional operation, and note that the emails were originally leaked from a server in the Siberian city of Tomsk—FSB, a modern-day incarnation of the KGB, has a Tomsk office, which often works with local hackers.

“It’s very common for hackers in Russia to be paid for their services,” the panel’s vice president tells the Independent. “It's a carefully made selection of emails and documents that's not random. This is 13 years of data, and it's not a job of amateurs.” Oil-wealthy Russia is often opposed to climate action, helping the US to delay the Kyoto Protocol. Many Russian scientists also doubt the science behind it. (More Russia stories.)