With the help of the program, the FSB was able to extract sensitive information in, for example, NATO countries. The program was infiltrated into the computer systems of many countries, research institutes and media.
The United States said on Tuesday that it has neutralized a Russian malware that the Russian intelligence service FSB has used for spying for 20 years.
According to the US Department of Justice, the federal police FBI was able to practically destroy the program by entering its own code, which caused the program to reverse its own programming.
The program, known as Snake and Uroburos, was used to spy on at least 50 countries, including NATO countries, according to the United States.
The FSB had managed to infiltrate the computer systems of many countries, research institutes and media. The computers in this network could then be used to transmit the stolen information to Russia without being noticed.
The FSB has used the tool to steal diplomatic materials and military documents, among other things.
– With the help of a high-tech operation that turned Russian malware against itself, US authorities have neutralized one of Russia’s most advanced cyber-espionage tools, US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.
The program has been known for years
Data security experts have known about the program for at least ten years. According to the United States, the FSB began developing it in 2003.
According to the US cyber defense agency Cisa, Snake was Russia’s most advanced cyberespionage tool, which was extremely difficult to detect on computers and information networks. It was also easy to update and modify, and had “surprisingly few bugs for its complexity”.
In one case, the FSB was able to access sensitive foreign policy documents and diplomatic communications in an unnamed NATO country with the help of the program.