FBI Dismantles Hacking Network Linked to Russian Intelligence Services: DOJ

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Thursday that it had disrupted a hacking network believed to be controlled by Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate, better known as the GRU. The hacking network, also known as a botnet, worked by compromising and installing malware on vulnerable computer routers around the globe, which could then be used to stage later attacks. The DOJ said that authorities launched “a court-authorized operation” in January to neutralize a network of hundreds of small or home office routers hacked by the Russian military unit known as “APT 28.” The infected routers were used to conceal or enable “vast spearphishing and similar credential harvesting campaigns” against “targets of intelligence interest” to the Russian government, such as U.S. and foreign governments and military, security, and corporate organizations....