Google says it has seen Russian hackers well-known to law enforcement, including FancyBear, engaging in espionage, phishing campaigns and other attacks targeting Ukraine and its European allies in recent weeks.
Key points:
- Google’s Threat Analysis Group says FancyBear has sent phishing emails to Ukrainian media company UrkNet
- The company also says Belarusian hackers have tried to steal credentials from Ukrainian and Polish organisations
- Russian and Ukrainian hackers have traded online attacks since the invasion began
Google’s Threat Analysis Group, which focuses on disrupting hackers and issuing warnings about them to users, said Russian hacking unit FancyBear, also known as APT28, had been sending phishing emails to Ukrainian media company UkrNet over the last two weeks.
Russia denies using hackers to go after its foes. Phishing messages aim to steal account login information from users, so that hackers can breach a target’s computers and online accounts.
Google did not say whether any of the attacks had been successful.
Google said Ghostwriter/UNC1151, which it described as a Belarusian threat actor, had been trying to steal account credentials through phishing attempts on Polish and Ukrainian government and military organisations.
Ukrainian cybersecurity officials last month had said hackers from neighbouring Belarus were targeting the private email addresses of Ukrainian military personnel “and related individuals.”
Google also said Mustang Panda, or Temp.Hex, which the company described as China-based, had been sending virus-laden attachments to “European entities” with file names such as “Situation at the EU borders with Ukraine.zip.”
Google described the effort as a deviation from Mustang Panda’s standard focus on South-East Asian targets.
Russian and Ukrainian hackers have traded online attacks, such as defacing government websites, since Russia invaded Ukraine last month.
Ukraine has publicly called on its hacker community to help protect infrastructure and conduct cyber spying missions against Russian troops.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the biggest military attack on a European state since World War II.
Reuters