USA. The cyber attack by the Russians was prevented. The hackers wanted to create a botnet

from the Sandworm group linked to the Russian military intelligence GRU, they infected thousands of computers and routers with malware. However, it managed to thwart the Russian attack before they launched the botnet – a network of infected devices that can be controlled remotely and used to launch cyber attacks.

Specialists from the US government agency did this by taking control of the same devices that the Russians wanted to use to create a botnet. “Fortunately, we were able to stop this attack before the botnet could be used,” said Merrick Garland, the US Attorney General, quoted in a press conference.

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The Menacing “Blink of the Cyclops”

The botnet was controlled by malware called Cyclops Blink, which in late February 2022 the US and UK cybersecurity agencies assigned the hacker group Sandworm.

According to research conducted by private cybersecurity companies, Cyclops Blink was designed to intercept devices manufactured by WatchGuard Technologies and ASUSTeK Computer. The software provides Russians with access to these systems, allowing them to remotely exfiltrate or delete data or use devices against others, explains the Reuters Agency.

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Russian hackers hit NATO and Eastern Europe

As reported earlier, it also carried out cyber attacks against the NATO Center of Excellence, as well as against systems of armed forces in Eastern European countries. A report released on March 30 by the Google Threat Intelligence Team indicates that either Coldriver or Calisto could be behind the attacks.

The activities of Russian cybercriminals consisted in sending phishing messages from newly created accounts on the Google domain to accounts in other domains. Consequently, Google was not able to assess the impact of these actions.

In 2019, Finnish cybersecurity company F-Secure Labs described them as an unidentified and advanced group that collects intelligence related to foreign policy and security in Europe.

Earlier, the group attacked US NGOs, the armed forces of the Balkan countries and a Ukrainian defense service provider. However, this is the first time that the Google team has recorded an attack targeting so many Eastern European countries and NATO.