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UK And US Accuse Russia Of Hacking Home Routers In Global Cyberattacks
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2018/04/16/russia-accused-of-hacking-network-infrastructure/#223decbc744eA little warning from the British and American governments today: Kremlin-funded spies might have found a way into your home office.
The U.K. and U.S. blamed Russian hackers for a campaign aimed at taking control of routers inside government, critical infrastructure and internet service providers, but also within small and home offices. The warning came in a joint announcement from British intelligence, the National Security Council (NSC), the DHS and the FBI on Monday. In a media briefing ahead of the announcement, Rob Joyce, special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator at the National Security Council, said there was "high confidence" Russia was behind the attacks. The hacks were being tracked by British intelligence from a year ago, said Ciaran Martin, director of U.K.'s National Cyber Security Center, run out of intelligence agency GCHQ.
The joint technical alert said Russian state-sponsored hackers had attempted to breach network routers, switches, firewalls and network intrusion detection systems across the world. Those routers were compromised to carry out so-called "man-in-the-middle" attacks where data going between computers and internet servers is intercepted, the NCSC said. That was being done "to support espionage, extract intellectual property, maintain persistent access to victim networks and potentially lay a foundation for future offensive operations," according to a statement from the NCSC.
Martin said the sustained targeting had continued for months and could have been used for espionage, the theft of intellectual property, or for "use in times of tension," Martin added. He said millions of machines were being targeted and were being seized by hackers to get access to ISP customers, to spy on organizations and their connections. That included the U.K. government, he added.
The U.K. and U.S. blamed Russian hackers for a campaign aimed at taking control of routers inside government, critical infrastructure and internet service providers, but also within small and home offices. The warning came in a joint announcement from British intelligence, the National Security Council (NSC), the DHS and the FBI on Monday. In a media briefing ahead of the announcement, Rob Joyce, special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator at the National Security Council, said there was "high confidence" Russia was behind the attacks. The hacks were being tracked by British intelligence from a year ago, said Ciaran Martin, director of U.K.'s National Cyber Security Center, run out of intelligence agency GCHQ.
The joint technical alert said Russian state-sponsored hackers had attempted to breach network routers, switches, firewalls and network intrusion detection systems across the world. Those routers were compromised to carry out so-called "man-in-the-middle" attacks where data going between computers and internet servers is intercepted, the NCSC said. That was being done "to support espionage, extract intellectual property, maintain persistent access to victim networks and potentially lay a foundation for future offensive operations," according to a statement from the NCSC.
Martin said the sustained targeting had continued for months and could have been used for espionage, the theft of intellectual property, or for "use in times of tension," Martin added. He said millions of machines were being targeted and were being seized by hackers to get access to ISP customers, to spy on organizations and their connections. That included the U.K. government, he added.
vote tabulators, state SOS offices, anyone? anyone?