WASHINGTON—On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) reported the successful disruption of a long-running Russian cyber espionage campaign, according to a report from The Hill.
The campaign, attributed to a unit within Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) called Turla, allegedly deployed a sophisticated malware known as Snake to infiltrate computer networks and steal sensitive information.
For almost two decades, Turla has been using the Snake malware to target hundreds of computers in a minimum of 50 countries, including NATO member states.
In a statement, Attorney General Garland emphasized the significance of the operation, saying, “The Justice Department, together with our international partners, has dismantled a global network of malware-infected computers that the Russian government has used for nearly two decades to conduct cyber-espionage, including against our NATO allies.”
To disrupt the cyber espionage group, the DOJ obtained a search warrant from a US court that authorized remote access to the compromised computers and allowed the agency to disable the malware.
As part of the ongoing efforts to mitigate the damage caused by the Russian cyber espionage campaign, the FBI announced its intention to notify all owners and operators of the affected computers.
The successful operation against the Russian cyber espionage group highlights the importance of international cooperation in the ongoing fight against state-sponsored cyber threats, The Hill notes.
