Cyber-attacks in US and Ukraine provoke reactions – What Microsoft says

The Biden government has imposed sanctions on six Russian technology companies for aiding and abetting the country’s intelligence services in the United States.

According to official announcements, private and state-owned companies were accused by the US Treasury Department on Thursday of allowing the activities of Russian intelligence services in cyberspace. The six companies support the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the Central Intelligence Agency (GRU) and the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) by providing know-how, developing tools and infrastructure, and facilitating malicious cyber attacks.

“The US Treasury Department is announcing sanctions against … companies that support the malicious activities of the Russian intelligence services responsible for hacking into SolarWinds and other recent cyber incidents,” said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. “These sanctions will be useful in reducing the Russian resources available to carry out similar malicious activities,” he said.

The six Russian technology companies that have been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department are: Positive Technologies, AST, Neobit, Pasit, SVA and NRA Technopolis.

Microsoft: Russian hackers behind the attack on Solar Wind

A new report from Microsoft shows that behind the catastrophic attack on SolarWinds are Russian hackers, who allegedly use similar tactics to infiltrate technology supply chains, seeking to create long-term bases for “espionage purposes”.

Microsoft security researchers have found that Russian hackers place a strong emphasis on IT resellers, falsifying their data in order to endanger their downstream customers. In particular, in a report published a while ago, they referred to “Nobelium”, the group that is believed to be behind the 2020 breach of the software management company SolarWinds. Nobelium is believed to be backed by the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service.

According to Microsoft, Russian hackers are repeating this key process with global technology supply chains, using resellers as entry points. These resellers are a wide range of IT service providers that customize cloud services and other connected technologies for their customers.

Ukraine: We have identified Russian companies carrying out cyber attacks

All this just a few days ago when Ukraine’s top law enforcement and counterintelligence service on Thursday revealed the identities of five people allegedly involved in “digital intrusions” attributed to a cyber espionage group called Gamaredon, which links its members with the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB). Calling the hacker group “a special FSB project targeting Ukraine”, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) said the perpetrators were “Crimean” FSB officers and traitors who surrendered to the enemy during its occupation. peninsula in 2014. “.

The names of the five people that SSU claims to be part of the secret operation are: Sklianko Oleksandr Mykolaiovych, Chernykh Mykola Serhiiovych, Starchenko Anton Oleksandrovych, Miroshnychenko Oleksandr Valeriiovych and Sushchenko Oleh Oleksandrovych. The threat agent is believed to have carried out at least 5,000 cyber attacks against public authorities and critical infrastructure in the country and attempted to infect more than 1,500 government computer systems, with most of the attacks targeting security, defense and law enforcement services. information information.

thehackernews.com, crn.com, cpomagazine

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