Five 'professional' hacker groups linked to foreign intelligence agencies, governments
KUALA LUMPUR: At least five of the world’s leading “professional” hacker groups are linked to intelligence agencies or governments of certain countries.
At least five prominent hacker groups are believed to be affiliated with foreign intelligence agencies or governments, according to sources in Malaysia. These advanced persistent threat organizations are highly organized, well-funded, and maintain a covert presence within targeted networks for extended periods to extract sensitive data, generate revenue, or disrupt crucial services.
One of these groups, APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, is suspected to be connected to Russia's military intelligence unit 26165. This designation was attributed to the group in July 2018, following charges brought by the United States Department of Justice against twelve Russian military intelligence officers for their role in hacking the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
The same unit was also implicated in attacks on the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in October 2018.
Another notable group, APT29, or Cozy Bear, is believed to be linked to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service. The United States government explicitly tied the SolarWinds supply chain attack, discovered in December 2020, to this group. The attack impacted nine federal agencies and approximately 100 private companies.
A third hacker group, Lazarus, a North Korean hacker collective, has gained international recognition under the alias Lazarus. This group operates under the auspices of the Reconnaissance General Bureau of North Korea's military forces. The US indicted a North Korean programmer in September 2018 for his role in the 2014 Sony Pictures attack.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
