Security News > 2022 > January > FBI: Hackers target US defense firms with malicious USB packages
The Federal Bureau of Investigation warned US companies in a recently updated flash alert that the financially motivated FIN7 cybercriminals group is targeting the US defense industry with packages containing malicious USB devices.
The packages have been mailed via the United States Postal Service and United Parcel Service to businesses in the transportation and insurance industries since August 2021 and defense firms starting with November 2021.
FIN7 operators impersonate Amazon and the US Department of Health & Human Services to trick the targets into opening the packages and connecting the USB drives to their systems.
Since August, reports received by the FBI say that these malicious packages also contain letters about COVID-19 guidelines or counterfeit gift cards and forged thank you notes, depending on the impersonated entity.
These attacks follow another series of incidents the FBI warned about two years ago when FIN7 operators impersonated Best Buy and mailed similar packages with malicious flash drives via USPS to hotels, restaurants, and retail businesses.
Beginning with at least May 2020, malicious packages sent by FIN7 also included items such as teddy bears designed to trick the targets' into lowering their guard.