The FSB installed the program, known as “Snake”, on computer networks around the world targeting governments, research institutes and journalists.
Computers infected with the malware could then be used to hide the traffic sent to and from “Snake”.
After trying to crack “Snake” for several years, the FBI finally managed to defeat the program by feeding its own code into the system, causing “Snake” to effectively self-destruct.
According to the US cyber security agency Cisa, the FSB began developing “Snake” as early as 2003, and the country’s Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco describes it as “one of Russia’s most sophisticated cyber-espionage tools”.
The software is said to have been designed to be easily updated and customized, making it particularly difficult to detect. In at least one case, the FSB managed to plant “Snake” in a network belonging to a NATO country and was thus able to gain access to sensitive documents concerning international relations and diplomatic communications, according to Cisa.