Security News
If you thought the Mirai botnet was bad, what about a version under the control of Russia's military that it could point like an electronic cannon at people it didn't like? That's the prospect we could face after the reported emergence of secret Russian project documents online last week. The documents, which come from hacking group Digital Revolution but haven't been verified, suggest that Russia's Federal Security Service, has been working on an internet of things botnet of its own called Fronton.
Earlier this year, Prevailion's security researchers identified a TA505 campaign targeting German companies with fake job application emails, but the attacks appear to have started in June 2019, or even the month before. Through the use of legitimate tools that are unlikely to be removed by traditional security software, the attackers can perform a broad range of activities, such as stealing files, capturing screens, and even recording audio.
The Russia-linked threat group known as Turla was observed using two new pieces of malware in attacks launched over a period of roughly two months in the fall of 2019, ESET reports. Also known as Waterbug, KRYPTON, Snake, and Venomous Bear, and active for more than a decade, Turla is known for the targeting of various diplomatic and military organizations, with a focus on NATO and Commonwealth of Independent States nations.
Data from ESET telemetry suggests that, for this campaign, only a very limited number of visitors were considered interesting by Turla's operators. The two compromised government websites and another pair of poisoned civilian websites have been active since early 2019.
UNITED NATIONS - The United States, United Kingdom and Estonia accused Russia's military intelligence Thursday of conducting cyber attacks against the Georgian government and media websites in an attempt "To sow discord and disrupt the lives of ordinary Georgians." Estonian Ambassador Sven Jurgenson read a statement afterward, flanked by UK Ambassador Karen Pierce and acting U.S. deputy ambassador Cherith Norman Chalet, saying the cyber attacks "Are part of Russia's long-running campaign of hostile and destabilizing activity against Georgia and are part of a wider pattern of malign activity."
Russia wants to watch Americans "Tear ourselves apart" as the United States heads toward elections, an FBI official warned Monday. Porter spoke at an election security conference on Capitol Hill just days after conflicting accounts emerged of a closed-door briefing intelligence officials had given to House lawmakers on threats from Russia and other nations in the 2020 election.
The Times of London is reporting that Russian agents are in Ireland probing transatlantic communications cables. Ireland is the landing point for undersea cables which carry internet traffic between America, Britain and Europe.
Just weeks into this year's election cycle, Russia already is actively interfering in the U.S. presidential campaign in hopes of reelecting President Donald Trump, and is also trying to help the candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side, intelligence officials have concluded. Lawmakers were told in a classified briefing last week that Russia is taking steps that would help Trump, according to officials familiar with the briefing.
U.S. and U.K. officials are blaming the Russian military for launching an October 2019 cyberattack on the country of Georgia that crippled at least 2,000 government, news media and court websites over the course of one day. A few hours after the U.S. and U.K. released their statements about Georgia on Thursday, the New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence officials had recently warned U.S. lawmakers that Russia has already taken steps to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.
Georgian authorities on Thursday accused Russia's military intelligence of launching a large-scale cyberattack that targeted the government and private organizations with the goal of destabilizing the ex-Soviet nation. Georgia's Foreign Ministry said the Oct. 28 cyberattack was "Targeted at Georgia's national security and intended to harm Georgian citizens and government structures by disrupting and paralyzing the functionality of various organizations, causing anxiety among the general public."