Washington says it has neutralised Russian spyware
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Loading... - Sarah Maes
- 11 May 2023
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The United States made public on Tuesday that it had put an end to a Russian spyware dubbed as 'Snake,' that had been responsible for multiple attacks on NATO nations over the last two decades. Operation Medusa put a stop to the software, which granted the Russian security services, FSB, access to hundreds of delicate documents from no fewer than 50 nations, by hacking government or media computer services, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco stated, “Through an advanced operation that leveraged Russian malware against itself, US law enforcement has disabled one of Russia’s most advanced cyber-espionage tools.” As per US authorities, the software was directed by a unit of the FSB named ‘Turla,’ located in Ryazan, Russia. It was capable of recognizing and stealing data and could remain unnoticed indefinitely. The ‘Turla’ agents pulled out this data utilizing the global network of compromised computers.
After a considerable number of years studying the software, the US federal police succeeded in devising a tool known as ‘Perseus,' which could communicate with ‘Snake’ and instruct it to cease operations without engaging the host computer.
In 2018, German authorities uncovered that they had been subjected to an unparalleled attack, which the media attributed to the ‘Snake’ software, also recognized as ‘Uruburos’ or ‘Turla.’ The victims of this attack were also found in Belgium, Ukraine, the United States, and Georgia.
