Marina Butina pictured in 2014. Butina had been in contacts with some civil rights groups that had been the victim of website defacements. (Flickr / Pavel Starikov) Why did Maria Butina want info on a phished civil rights group? The Russian national took a keen interest in a D.C.-based organization's cybersecurity vulnerabilities soon after the group was hit by phishing attempts last year. Jul 24, 2018 By Ryan Duffy