This isn't even a blip on the radar of global fuel prices. It is completely lost in the noise. [3]
[1] Or the OPM, since it was kind enough to have lists of 'all spies operating abroad' on its intranet. Whoops.
[2] I mean, you could also just pose as a landlord or employer, and ask for credit checks on them, it costs ~$30 per query, but it is what it is.
[3] If the FSB really wants to increase demand for fuel, they should try stalling a junker or two on an interstate bridge... Imagine the fuel wasted from all the cars idling, or taking detours!
End of the story is intelligence agencies around the world have been bulking up for cyber warfare for at least a decade. Russia and China have been been fingered repeatedly for cyber attacks. It is not completely outlandish that one of them is behind it for whatever reason. I'm pretty sure the entire point of these agencies is that we don't know what do or why they do them.
By lots of countreies. The US charged 4 chinese military officers for hacking Equifax.
> While it's certainly possible that the FSB is playing 59-dimensional chess, here, hoping for a true butterfly-effect sequence of causality, I think the onus is on you to demonstrate that.
You seem to think that it would require multiple things to fall into place to benefit a foreign country. Say you want to manipulate the price of the fuel. Increasing the costs of transport would do that.