Major Cyber Espionage Group Discovered & Who this Poses a Threat To

Researchers at Kaspersky Lab in Russia have discovered a highly sophisticated cyber-espionage group that has pulled of some jaw-dropping cyber invasions unlike any in the past. Kaspersky researches have indicated that this group, known as “The Equation Group”  likely originated in the U.S. and has been using various malware and spyware tools to infect computers tied to not only the government but also telecoms, military, nuclear research firms and other major companies. So, who does this affect and what are the consequences?

Although, specific consequences cannot be pin-pointed, currently, researchers have found that this group has infected computers in over thirty different countries which could be hugely detrimental to many, worldwide. At a conference in Cancun, more findings revealed that the virus was similar to that of another developed by the group, Stuxnet, whose virus infected Iran’s nuclear plants and even ended up leaking into Russia’s plants as well. Although there were similarities shared between the viruses, researchers say that this current operation that was discovered makes Stuxnet’s virus look like child play.

The Equation Group may have been established as early as 1996 and boosted in development in 2008 with powerful cyber weapons that had the capability of affecting any Windows computer, USB sticks and even drive firmware—which is really quite incredible. Unfortunately this virus had a “self-destruct” mode which means that from the 500 computers that were recently found infected, thousands more could be out there but no one will ever know because the virus is virtually untraceable. Scary isn’t it? Unfortunately this is the risk we take living in the digital age… And although this a very extreme circumstance, the truth is any circumstance seems extreme when something of ours personal or business is compromised, it’s actually terrifying. This is just one case on top of many that relate back to internet security and the importance of protecting yourself and your business as much as you can online. Unfortunately this example is one of the highest level of security breaches and there would be no stopping this virus, but you as the end user can still take steps in the right direction to keep your information secure! If you would like to learn more about how you can do this, call Sun Sign today and see how we can keep you safe and compliant.