Main points
- The FBI and CISA have warned of a wave of cyberattacks on Signal messenger users organized by Russian hackers.
- The attacks target government officials, military personnel, politicians, and journalists, using phishing tactics to steal data.
Russian hackers attacked Signal/Unsplash accounts
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Agency (CISA) have warned of a new wave of cyberattacks. The hackers are linked to Russian intelligence services.
Reuters reports this.
What is known about cyberattacks on Signal?
The targets were users of popular messengers, including Signal . The attacks are primarily aimed at people of interest to intelligence agencies: current and former US government officials, military personnel, politicians, and journalists.
This is not about hacking the services themselves or their encryption. Attackers use a different tactic – masquerading as security or technical support services and forcing users to independently transfer confidential data, including access codes.
Signal previously confirmed that such incidents are related to sophisticated phishing campaigns, and not to a breach of infrastructure or security algorithms.
The US warning came shortly after similar statements from Dutch intelligence, which reported a global cyber operation by pro-Russian hackers. According to them, the attacks also targeted Signal accounts, as well as WhatsApp.
Hackers stole 10 petabytes of secret Chinese data
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Hackers have claimed to have leaked 10 petabytes of data from China's National Supercomputing Center, including military research.
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Experts doubt the real extent of the leak, as extracting such a large amount of data would require significant time or internal assistance.