Cyber Threat: US & UK accuse Russian hackers of using VPN & Tor to spy globally

Top security officials of United States and  United Kingdom have joined hands to combat global cyber security threats. National Security ncy (NSA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security ncy (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) released a Cybersecurity Advisory on 1 July.

In joint statement, governments have accused Russian military intelligence of conducting malicious cyber attacks against U.S. and or global organizations. presser reveals that  Russia's military spy ncy (Unit 26165) had been using several tactics to penetrate into global organizations’ private networks. report also accuses Russian hackers abusing VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) and Tor (a kind of privacy focused network) to conduct "widespread, distributed, and anymised brute force access attempts against hundreds of government and private sector targets."

Russian Hackers Used VPN & Tor To Spy: Report


report details how Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) targeted foreign organizations. advisory highlights ‘tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP), GTsSS actors' used by hackers to target several private and public sector networks globally. Supporting allegation,  report reveals that Russians are using ‘brute force access to penetrate government and private sector victim networks’. Both governments have accused Russian hackers of conducting cyberattacks on several organizations, including government offices, military & defence contractors, energy companies, logistics, law firms, media organizations, political parties and political consultants based in US and Europe from at least mid-2019. Russian Embassy in Washington has t commented on issue so far, however, y have always rejected such allegations in past. 

Russia’s Military Spy ncy’s Involvement In 2016 US Presidential Elections
 

This is t first instance when Russia was accused by United States of prying. Earlier, In mid- 2018, Unit 26165 was indicted for interfering in 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Robert Muller’s investigation revealed Unit 26165’s interference in presidential election that helped former President Donald Trump's Democratic Party win.

United States and Britain have stepped up ir efforts to develop a safe for all on web. y have been calling out countries, including Russia and China for ir alleged involvement in hacking and foreign cyber attacks. In past, India also banned several Chinese apps and accused m of spying and misusing user's private data.


(Im: AP)