Russian State-Sponsored Hacking Extends Worldwide

Uploaded on 2024-11-27 in TECHNOLOGY--Hackers, INTELLIGENCE-Hot Spots-Russia, INTELLIGENCE--International, FREE TO VIEW

A Russian cyber-espionage campaign has been hitting human rights groups, private security companies and educational institutions in Central Asia, East Asia, and Europe.

Now, based on the latest statements from its government, it is evident that Russia is ready to carry out cyber attacks on Britain and NATO allies in and effort to intimidate them and to weaken support for Ukraine.

This week, a senior British government minister, Pat McFadden - whose role includes responsibility for national security - told a NATO meeting that Russia could target the electric grid and and leave millions of consumers and businesses without power.

This is the latest in a series of warnings about the cyber-warfare capabilities of Russia, which McFadden called a "hidden war" being waged against Ukraine. McFadden referred to Russian hacking group connected to the GRU military spy agency, known as Unit 29155, which the says has carried out a number of attacks in the UK and Europe.

Recorded Future’s Insikt Group has attributed other attacks TAG-110, another Russian threat actor, also likely linked to the Russian cyber-espionage group APT28, which is also known as Fancy Bear.

Fancy Bear is believed to act on the orders of the GRU and is thought to be behind several major attacks on Ukraine and its allies in recent years. In 2023 the group hacked the German Social Democratic Party, and was also responsible for large-scale disruption targeting the Polish government.

Insikt Group has identified 62 unique TAG-110 victims, primarily in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan since July 2024. According to Insikt Group, these victims were infected with the group’s custom malware, including the Hatvibe loader and the Cherryspy backdoor.

The group used malicious Microsoft Word email attachments to deliver these tools against targeted systems and exploit vulnerable web-facing services.

TAG-110 allegedly has been spying for the Russian state since at least 2021, primarily targeting entities in Central Asia, Insikt Group said. The group has also targeted victims in India, Israel, Mongolia and Ukraine. Inskit Group researchers think that TAG-110’s campaigns will continue and likely focusing on post-Soviet Central Asian states, Ukraine and its allies.

The likely objective is to reinforce Russia’s military efforts in Ukraine and gather insights into geopolitical events in neighbouring countries, especially as Moscow’s relations with these nations have suffered following its failed invasion of Ukraine.

Hacker News | Infosecurity Magazine

Image: Leestat

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