Cyber firms, Ukraine warn of planned Russian attack

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

CYBER RISK MAY 23, 2018 / 9:02 AM / UPDATED 44 MINUTES AGO

Cyber firms, Ukraine warn of planned Russian attack

Jim Finkle, Pavel Polityuk
5 MIN READ

TORONTO/KIEV (Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) warned on Wednesday that hackers have infected at least 500,000 routers and storage devices in dozens of countries with sophisticated malicious software - activity Ukraine said was preparation for a future Russian cyber attack.

Cisco’s Talos cyber intelligence unit has high confidence that the Russian government is behind the campaign, according to Cisco researcher Craig Williams, because the hacking software shares code with malware used in previous cyber attacks that the U.S. government has attributed to Moscow.

Ukraine’s SBU state security service said the activity showed Russia was readying a large-scale cyber attack against Ukraine ahead of the Champions League soccer final, due to be held in Kiev on Saturday.

“Security Service experts believe the infection of hardware on the territory of Ukraine is preparation for another act of cyber-aggression by the Russian Federation aimed at destabilizing the situation during the Champions League final,” it said in a statement after Cisco’s findings were released.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyber-routers-ukraine/cyber-firms-warn-on-suspected-russian-plan-to-attack-ukraine-idUSKCN1IO1U9