Just days after Russia was accused of cybersecurity attacks against the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Russian government was the target of a professional cyberattack, the country’s intelligence service reported over the weekend. The virus was found on computers belonging to 20 government agencies, defense companies and scientific organizations.
“The Federal Security Service (FSB) revealed virus software for cyber-spying in computer networks of about 20 organizations located in Russia,” the FSB told TASS, the Russian news agency. “The virus attack was aimed at “information resources of the state authorities, scientific and defense companies, enterprises of the defense industry and other objects of the country’s critically important infrastructures.”
Professional Job
The FSB called the attack a professionally executed, targeted virus. Government cybersecurity specialists said the malicious software that was used was similar to the malware used in episodes of cyber-spying uncovered in the territory of the Russian Federation and elsewhere around the world. That determination was made by examining the style of programming, names of files, parameters of their use and methods used to spread the virus.
“The analysis found that spyware affected the information resources of public authorities and management bodies, scientific and military organizations, military-industrial complex enterprises and other facilities of the country’s vital infrastructure,” according to a statement from the FSB.
The agency said the viruses were made individually for every target on the basis of unique features of the attacked machines. The FSB said the virus is spread by means of targeted attacks on PCs, carried out by sending e-mails containing malicious attachments.
As the malware gets inside the system, it loads the necessary modules, enabling the hackers to turn on cameras and microphones within the computer, take screenshots as well as track what’s being typed by monitoring keyboard strokes, according to the FSB.
The FSB has joined with Russian ministries and authorities to finalize measures that will reveal all the victims of the attack and minimize the damage.
Russians Suspected in DNC Hack
Last month nearly 20,000 emails and more 8,000 attachments from the DNC’s mail servers were released by WikiLeaks, a non-profit investigative journalism organization. Some of the emails were embarrassing to the Democrats on the eve of their national convention, as they contained derogatory sentiments about Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had been challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president.
After those emails were released, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said cybersecurity experts told the campaign that the source of the hack was Russia. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied responsibility for recent cyberattacks against the DNC. Russian hackers have previously been blamed for infiltrating email servers in the White House, the U.S. Department of State and The Pentagon, as well as carrying out cyberattacks on Ukraine, Estonia and the nation of Georgia.
