GEC NEWS WIREKaspersky Lab Uncovers How Two Cyber Espionage Groups Attack Each Other
Kaspersky Lab has recorded a rare and unusual example of one cybercriminal attacking another.
In 2014, Hellsing, was subjected to a spear-phishing attack by another threat actor and decided to strike back. Kaspersky Lab believes that this could mark the emergence of a new trend in criminal cyberactivity: the APT wars. The discovery was made by Kaspersky Lab experts during research into the activity of Naikon. The experts noticed that one of Naikon’s targets had spotted the attempt to infect its systems with a malicious e-mail attachment.
The method of counter-attack indicates that Hellsing wanted to identify the Naikon group and gather intelligence on it.
“The targeting of the Naikon group by Hellsing, in some sort of a vengeful vampire-hunting-“Empire Strikes Back” style, is fascinating. However, considering the targeting and origin of the attack, it seems more likely that this is an example of a deliberate APT-on-APT attack,” said Costin Raiu, Director of Global Research and Analyst Team at Kaspersky Lab.
Kaspersky Lab gives out three major warning to escape cyberattacks. Stay away from suspicious attachments, beware of password protected archives; update all third party apps regularly.
