Russia is still trying to hack the DNC

Russia was likely behind an attempted hack of the Democratic National Committee during last year’s midterm elections, according to a court filing published Thursday.

The revelation came as part of the DNC’s ongoing lawsuit against the Trump campaign and the Russian government, ABC first reported.

"On November 14, 2018, dozens of DNC email addresses were targeted in a spear-phishing campaign, although there is no evidence that the attack was successful," the DNC wrote in the amended filing.

The Kremlin has consistently denied all hacking accusations made against it.

While the court filing does not directly point the finger at Moscow, it does strongly suggest Russia’s involvement.

The filing says the spear-phishing attack targeting its members was similar to a wider attack reported last November that was attributed to a Russian hacking group with links to the Kremlin

In November, FireEye reported that Russian hackers linked to a group known as Cozy Bear (also known as APT 28 or The Dukes) had impersonated State Department officials in an attack that targeted more than 20 of the FireEye’s clients.

Cozy Bear, along with another Russian hacking group called Fancy Bear, was implicated in the 2016 DNC hack that led to the publication of embarrassing Hillary Clinton campaign emails.

READ: It’s getting much harder for Russia to deny hacking — but they’re trying it anyway

"Therefore, it is probable that Russian intelligence again attempted to unlawfully infiltrate DNC computers in November 2018," the DNC’s filing says.

The document claims that Russia is still trying to disrupt U.S. democracy by conducting cyberattacks to undermine its elections despite multiple investigations and revelations about the Kremlin’s efforts to the 2016 election.

The Justice Department last year indicted Russian national Elena Khusyaynova for using various platforms to create thousands of fake social media and email accounts to “amplify divisive social media and political content.”

Defense Secretary James Mattis subsequently said in December that Putin “tried again to muck around in our elections” — marking the first time the administration accused the Russian president of meddling in the midterms.

Cover image: A participant uses a laptop computer as he takes part in the Seccon 2016 final competition on January 28, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)