Russian hackers find a security breach in Gmail and move dangerously into action

A group of Russian hackers is using a clever trick to trick users into taking control of their Gmail accounts. All this despite the strict security measures of the Google platform, including two-factor authentication, as noted by Bleeding Computer. Thus, these hackers are impersonating U.S. State Department officials, targeting academics and critics of Russia.

New Russian attack via Gmail

Thus, between April and early June of this year, 2025, such attacks have been recorded through which phishing emails were sent to victims, trying to trick recipients into creating a specific password for Gmail. After obtaining these new passwords, hackers were able to access their victims’ Gmail accounts, even in accounts protected with two-step authentication.

Typically, these requested passwords are used to grant access to third-party applications; for example, through this method, it is possible to use Gmail on desktop clients or smartphones, as is common on platforms such as Outlook. Be that as it may, the response has not been long in coming, as Google’s threat team is tracking suspicious or malicious actors under the nomenclature UNC6293, which they believe may be linked to Russia’s APT29, a hacker group believed to be working for Russian foreign intelligence.

This group, known as APT29 -although they have also used other names in the past-, has been active since 2008 and resorts to a known modus operandi through which they launch attacks against foreign government networks, research organizations, and think tanks.

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