Russia's top-secret spy school, hidden within the prestigious Bauman Moscow State Technical University, has been revealed to be the epicenter of a sophisticated training program for military intelligence operatives. This school, known as Department 4 or 'Special Training', is a pipeline that cultivates the next generation of GRU (Russian military intelligence directorate) agents, who have been implicated in numerous high-profile cyberattacks and election meddling. The existence of this program has been kept under wraps for years, with only a select few insiders knowing of its existence and purpose. The recent exposure of over 2,000 internal documents from Bauman by a consortium of journalists from six outlets has shed light on the curriculum, teaching methods, and the students' progress. These documents reveal a curriculum that is both technical and ideological, designed to produce skilled hackers and disinformation experts who can operate within the GRU's cyber-units. The curriculum includes courses on hacking, disinformation, and psychological manipulation, with students learning to use advanced tools like smoke detectors with cameras, keystroke loggers, and silent screenshot machines. The teaching staff includes sanctioned Russian military officials, such as Viktor Netyksho, who commanded the Fancy Bear hacking group, which was accused of interfering in the 2016 US presidential election. The documents also show that the GRU exerts direct control over the recruitment and grading process, blurring the lines between professor and handler and teaching and recruitment. The school's leader, Lieutenant Colonel Kirill Stupakov, has a three-year contract with the GRU, and his subjects include electronic eavesdropping and covert surveillance. Among the students who graduated from Department 4 in 2024 was Daniil Porshin, who was assigned to Fancy Bear after maintaining near-perfect grades at Bauman. The exposure of this program raises concerns about the scale of Russian cyber-activity and the potential for further interference in Western elections and critical infrastructure. As the war in Ukraine continues, intelligence experts suggest that Russia is ramping up its 'hybrid' attacks on European allies of Ukraine, attempting a broad campaign of interference and sabotage to cause havoc in the West while remaining deniable. The Bauman program, however, is just one part of the picture, with another Russian university, Mirea, also playing a crucial role in training hackers. The documents provide an unprecedented insight into the secretive and systematic training program for Russia's cyber-agents, but the full extent of the program's reach and impact remains to be seen. The exposure of this program is a significant development in the ongoing debate about the role of state-sponsored hacking and the need for stronger international cooperation to combat it.
