A union of U.S. security companies taken apart Russia’s international Snake Malware network, thought about “the most sophisticated cyber espionage tool designed and used by Russia’s Federal Security Service [FSB] for long-term intelligence gathering on sensitive targets,” the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) said in May.
“This network, supported by Russian intelligence, was responsible for highly sophisticated cyberattacks targeting government institutions, embassies, private companies, and media outlets around the world,” Raúl A. Álvarez, an Intelligence professional and teacher of Cybersecurity at Mexico’s Anáhuac University, informed Diálogo on July 4. “Its main objective was the extraction of confidential information for political, economic, and military advantage.”
The Snake malware accessed details through a concealed network of many contaminated computer systems. To stop its activity, U.S. professionals disabled the malware with Perseis, an unique FBI tool, which handled to release “commands to overwrite its own vital components,” Spanish news website 20minutos reported.
“The FSB used versions of the Snake malware for nearly 20 years to steal sensitive information from hundreds of computer systems in at least 50 countries, including NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] governments,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen said on June 20. “Through innovative use of our Rule 41 warrant authority [allowing remote access to search electronic storage media], as well as collaboration with private sector partners and numerous foreign governments, the Justice Department disabled one of the FSB’s most sensitive and complex espionage tools.”
“The dismantling of Snake is vitally important for several reasons: It sends a clear message that these activities will not be tolerated, and concrete steps are taken to curb their advance,” Álvarez said. “By eliminating such a significant threat, it reduces the chances of sensitive data falling into the wrong hands.”
In a prolonged report, security companies ranked Snake based upon 3 qualities. First, Snake uses suggests to accomplish an unusual level of stealth in the method it runs; 2nd, the internal technical architecture enables simple incorporation of brand-new or replacement elements; and 3rd, it shows mindful style and application of software engineering and the implant includes remarkably couple of bugs offered its intricacy.
“These types of groups manage APTs [Advanced Persistent Threat]; that is, they have the ability to attack in an advanced and continuous manner, which could have an impact as an economic destabilizer because of the type of targets they have,” Veronica Becerra, co-founder of the Mexican cybersecurity company Offensive Hacking & Security Networks, informed Diálogo on June 29. “These types of cybercriminal groups target critical infrastructures, such as the energy or health sector, among others. An attack on the healthcare sector, for example, could even claim lives. Unfortunately, there have already been some cases.”
Snake facilities has actually been determined in more than 50 nations in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, consisting of the United States and Russia itself. Snake can be set up in any market, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) showed.
“As an example, FSB actors used Snake to access and extract confidential international relations documents, as well as other diplomatic communications from a victim in a NATO country,” CISA said. “Within the United States, the FSB victimized industries including education, small businesses, and media organizations, as well as critical infrastructure sectors including government facilities, financial services, critical manufacturing, and communications.”
“Federal cybersecurity agencies from [intelligence alliance] Five Eyes member countries [Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States] issued a joint security advisory with detailed technical information about the Snake malware, to prevent infection in networks,” 20minutos reported.
According to Fortinet’s Global Ransomware Report 2023, the taking apart of Snake was important for Latin America as 71 percent of the companies, businesses, or federal government entities that experienced a ransomware event paid a minimum of a part of the ransom required.
“However, victims must mitigate further damage to compromised computers because Snake’s takedown ‘did not patch any vulnerabilities and also did not seek out or remove any additional malware or hacking tools,’” 20minutos concluded.
