Coronavirus scientists targetted by Russian hackers
By MYBRANDBOOK
Russian hackers backed by the state are targeting pharmaceutical companies, healthcare, academic research centres and other organisations involved in coronavirus vaccine development, security agencies in the UK, USA and Canada have jointly warned.
The UK's National Cyber Security with support from the US National Security Agency and the Canadian security services put out the advisory stating cyberattacks from hacking group APT29 – also known as Cozy Bear – are attempting to steal information on coronavirus research.
Organisations in the UK, USA and Canada are thought to have been targeted by attacks, which the NCSC has high confidence have originated from a group working on behalf of the Russian government.
APT29 has links to the Russian intelligence services and has been identified as the culprit of a number of high profile international cyber attacks and spear-phishing campaigns, including attempted election interference in the United States.
There's currently no evidence to suggest that the hacking campaigns have been successful, but the NCSC says the attacks are still ongoing.
APT29 has been attempting to deploy custom families of malware – WellMess and WellMail, which both can issue commands on infected machines – against organisations involved in vaccine development. The two forms of malware haven't previously been publicly associated with APT29.
The group is also known to scan for vulnerabilities in networks – such as in Citrix, Pulse Secure and Fortigate products - which it can combine with known exploits in an effort to infiltrate systems and gain persistence to commit espionage and other malicious cyber activity. The NCSC has described APT29 as "very adept" at exploiting vulnerabilities before patches can be applied.
In order to protect against attacks, the NCSC recommends that organisations secure devices and networks with the latest security patches so attackers can't exploit known vulnerabilities. It's also recommended that organisations use multi-factor authentication, so in the event of hackers breaching passwords, there's an additional barrier to prevent them moving around the network.
It's also recommended that staff know how to spot phishing emails and that they're confident enough to report them – even if they feel they might have accidentally clicked on a link or handed over login credentials.
BHIM to join e-commerce, competing with PhonePe and Google Pay
The government-supported payment software BHIM is getting ready to join t...
The latest version of X helps prevent deepfakes on social medi
To combat deepfakes and shallowfakes, Elon Musk revealed a new update t...
India and Namibia collaborate on a payment system similar to U
Once operational, the platform will enable digital transactions in Namibia,...
Sebi issues show-cause notices to six Adani group firms
Sebi issued show-cause notices to six Adani Group firms, including Adani ...
WIPRO LTD.
SAMSUNG INDIA ELECTRONICS PVT. LTD.
FIREBOLTT
MICROTEK INTERNATIONAL PVT. LTD.
Technology Icons Of India 2023: Nandan Nilekani
Nandan Nilekani is the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board, Infosys T...
Technology Icons Of India 2023: C P Gurnani
CP Gurnani (popularly known as ‘CP’ within his peer group), is the...
Technology Icons Of India 2023: Anant Maheshwari
As President of Microsoft India, he is responsible for Microsoft’s o...
CSCs enabling rural India digitally empowered
Common service centres (CSCs) are digital access points under the Digi...
C-DAC keeps India ahead in IT & Electronics R&D space
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is the premier R&...
BBNL empowering rural India digitally
BBNL provide high speed digital connectivity to Rural India at afforda...
IVALUE INFOSOLUTIONS PVT. LTD.
: iValue Info Solutions is a value added distributor, provides solutio...
TECH DATA, A TD SYNNEX COMPANY
Tech Data Corporation was an American multinational distribution compa...
EXCLUSIVE NETWORKS SALES INDIA PVT. LTD.
Exclusive Networks is a globally trusted cybersecurity specialist hel...