The “Most Important Tool” in the US: The FBI Smashes Russia’s Cyber-espionage Tool

The “most important tool” in the USA
The FBI dismantles the Russian electronic espionage tool

A Russian hacking group has been spying on Western governments for 20 years. The FBI now announces that it has rendered cyber spies’ “most important espionage tool” harmless for their work in the United States. It has previously been used on an unknown number of US computers.

According to the FBI, it has made harmless hacking software used by Russian cyber spies in the United States. Experts from the Federal Police have been able to identify and deactivate malware being used by Russia’s FSB intelligence service against an undisclosed number of computers used in the United States, and high-ranking law enforcement representatives elaborated in more detail about the official communication.

As reported by US broadcaster CNN with reference to US officialsOn Monday, the FBI used a court order to block Russians from accessing the US computer network that hackers used to share stolen information with Russia. A senior FBI official said the FBI’s action would now make it “difficult or indefensible” for the FSB to use it effectively again.

“We consider this to be your most important espionage tool,” said one of the officials, according to the statement. It is hoped that this will be a fatal blow to one of Russia’s leading cyber espionage programmes. The FSB cyber spies behind the malware known as “Snake” are said to be part of a notorious hacking group called “Turla”.

An FBI official said the group has been active against a variety of targets within NATO, US government agencies, and technology companies over two decades. Similar statements about FSB-discovered cyber disruptions have come from security agencies in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. At first there was no comment from the Russian side. Moscow’s leadership regularly denies involvement in cyberespionage.

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