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Russian Federation
Cyber Attacks Russia Russian Cyber Security Russian Federation

The Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Ukraine called the hacking of its accounts an information provocation

 The Consulate General of Russia in Kharkiv (Ukraine) considers the hacking of its pages on social networks as an information provocation. “The issue regarding this incident will be resolved between Ukraine and Russia at the diplomatic level,” Igor Demyanenko, the head of the Consulate General, said on Thursday.

“We took it as an informational provocation that does not show Ukraine's compliance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” he said, adding that “the issue will be resolved through diplomatic channels between the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.”

Mr. Demyanenko said that such a situation had developed for the first time, and confirmed that access to the accounts of the Consulate General in social networks had already been restored. And the official website of the diplomatic mission posted a message stating that the information previously published by the attackers on the pages of the Consulate General is invalid.

At the same time, he noted that after the incident, the number of subscribers on the pages of the Consulate General increased fivefold.

Earlier on Thursday, it became known about the hacking of the accounts of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Kharkov on social networks Instagram and Facebook: congratulations on the Day of Defenders of Ukraine (October 14) appeared on the consulate's page, the record also contained provocative statements addressed to the Russian leadership allegedly on behalf of the consulate staff. After the hacker attack, the Consulate General lost access to account management. The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Kiev sent a note verbale to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine with a request to launch an investigation by the Ukrainian competent authorities.

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Russian Federation
Cyber Crime Cyber Crime Report Russia Russian Federation

The Russian Federation submitted to the United Nations the world's first draft convention against cybercrime

The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation reported that Russia has submitted to the UN the world's first draft convention on countering cybercrime and the criminal use of cryptocurrency.

Recall that last year an interdepartmental working group on combating information crime was established, one of the main tasks of which was to develop a draft of a universal comprehensive international convention on combating the use of information and communication technologies for criminal purposes.

The project has a number of advantages. It takes into account modern challenges and threats in the field of international information security, including the criminal use of cryptocurrency, introduces new elements of crimes committed using information and communication technologies.

It is stressed that Russia was the first country that developed and submitted to the special committee a draft convention to combating information crimes.

"Today cyber attacks are as much a weapon of mass destruction as a tactical nuclear weapon. Infrastructure, from the fuel supply to the water supply, can be stopped in an entire city. The settlement will be paralyzed with zero casualties. Thus, I would call cyberattacks bloodless killers, they do not set themselves the goal of destroying the population but simply teleport this population, in fact, to the Stone Age,” commented on the news the State Duma deputy Ruslan Balbek.

According to him, the Russian draft convention is timely and relevant.

In March, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin announced an increase in the number of crimes in the IT-sphere. He pointed out that over the past six years, the number of such crimes has increased 10 times.

Earlier, E Hacking News was reported that Russia-US summit was held in Geneva on June 16. Summing up the negotiations, Vladimir Putin said that the sides will start consultations on cybersecurity.

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Technology News
Russia Russian Federation Technology Technology News

Russian engineer raised $5 million for Tamagotchi for hackers

Russian techno enthusiast Pavel Zhovner raised almost $5 million for the production of Tamagotchi for hackers Flipper Zero.  The project attracted 37,987 users of the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform.

Zhovner launched the campaign in early August and expected to be able to raise at least $60,000 within a month — the minimum amount needed to start production in China. However, the enthusiast received this money within 8 minutes after the start of the collection. A day later, the project raised $500,000, and by the end of the weekend - more than $1 million. The campaign ended on 29 August with an impressive result of $4 882 784.

“I’m even a little glad that this will finally end, I can breathe out. We are called to continue the campaign on all sorts of IndieGoGo, but we decided to take a break and go into development more tightly, without being distracted by marketing,” wrote Zhovner in his Telegram channel.

Flipper Zero is an electronic multitool equipped with a built-in radio module for receiving and transmitting signals at frequencies of 300-928 MHz, as well as an infrared transmitter for controlling household appliances.

The creator describes the device as a universal tool that can turn into anything in the hands of experts — from remote control for a TV to a device for hacking a Wi-Fi router.

The developers said that Flipper Zero does not fall under the description of a special tool or device for the secret collection of information. The device does not have the ability to capture audio-visual information and is not disguised as household items. The factory firmware will not contain jamming, brute force, or other potentially malicious features.

Also, inside Flipper Zero there is a cyberdolphin that needs to be fed. This mascot is a reference to Johnny Mnemonic, the cult cyberpunk film.

Kickstarter's sponsors are expected to be able to receive their devices as early as February 2021. Later, the creator plans to release Flipper Zero for free sale through online stores and resellers at a price of $169.

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Russian Federation
Bashkortostan Cyber Security Cyber Security News Russia Russian Cyber Security Russian Federation

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bashkortostan intends to cooperate with white hackers to reduce cyber crime

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bashkortostan is ready to cooperate with white hackers and programmers to solve Internet crimes together with them. Law enforcement agencies want to attract volunteers-experts from among students-programmers to solve cybercrimes.

According to Major General of Justice, Deputy Minister, Head of the Main Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Bashkortostan Oleg Oleinik, the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is working together with the Regional Center of the Volunteer Movement and the police already have experience in cooperation with young programmers.

Recall that in the last two years, the number of cybercrimes in Bashkortostan has grown by almost 2.5 times: if in 2018, 2,500 cybercrimes were recorded, in 2019 – 6,300, then in the seven months of 2020, 6,500 cases have already been opened. Fraudsters use social engineering methods and debit money from cards of victims without any special technical means.

The Bashkortostan police said that they are ready to cooperate with IT companies that are also interested in eliminating cyber fraud. 

The interim head of the Department for Disclosure of General Criminal Frauds and Theft Committed Using Information and Telecommunication Technologies of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Marat Guzairov said that the crime is especially developed in the DarkNet, where databases are uploaded, weapons, drugs are sold, and pornography is distributed. Violation of the law occurs with the help of messengers, as well as resources blocked by Roskomnadzor, which can be accessed using certain programs.

According to the police, many young people are aware of this and could transfer their knowledge to law enforcement agencies.


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Russian Federation
Information Security News Phishing and Spam Russia Russian Cyber Security Russian Federation

Russians were warned about phishing emails on behalf of the tax service

Experts of the company Group-IB, specializing in the prevention of cyberattacks, together with the Federal Tax Service (FTS), identified the activity of fraudsters in the Network. Criminals send emails to legal entities and state institutions allegedly on behalf of the tax authorities.

All emails of attackers looked the same. They said that the recipient must appear at the Federal Tax Service to "give evidence about the flow of funds”. Before visiting the institution, the recipient of the letter was required to fill out a special form, which was attached in the letter as an archive with a password. The password was also attached in the email. This scheme allowed bypassing antivirus protection. When the archive was opened, a program for remote access to it was installed on the user's computer.

"The Federal Tax Service of Russia does not send letters to taxpayers about the existence of debt and offers to pay the debt online,” reported the press service of the FTS.

The mailing started at the end of July and continues to this day. Emails are sent to employees of oil and mining companies, airports, Telecom operators, and other organizations.

Experts are discussing the possibility of introducing a new article "Tax fraud” into the criminal code of the Russian Federation.

Moreover, according to Igor Bederov, General Director of the Internet Search company, in total, there are more than 1 million fake websites in Russia, up to 1 million messages are sent per day. He added that the share of phishing messages today can be up to 10% of the total volume of e-mail messages.

It is difficult to calculate the total amount of damage to organizations caused by phishing attacks, but one such successful attack can cost an average of 2,000 to 50,000 rubles ($27-680).

Earlier, E Hacking News reported that Kaspersky Lab experts described a discovered method of corporate phishing. Phishing attacks claiming to be from HR steals bank employees credentials.

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Russian Federation
Breach of Security and Privacy Privacy Privacy Breach Russian Russian Cyber Security Russian Federation

The Russian Federation leads in the number of users monitored via smartphones


In the first six months of 2020, the number of gadgets with Stalker software in Russia increased by 28% compared to the same period in 2019.

"This probably happened because as a result of self-isolation, many people began to spend much more time at home,” said Viktor Chebyshev, an expert on mobile threats at Kaspersky Lab.

He explained that such programs are often installed to spy on their loved ones, allowing them to access the contents of a mobile device, as well as to spy on a person through a smartphone camera in real-time. They are often used by initiators of domestic violence. All Stalker software is not free.

"There have always been jealous spouses and those who just want to look into someone else's life, and the development of IT has given such people additional opportunities," said Andrey Arsentiev, head of Analytics and special projects at InfoWatch Group.

According to Kaspersky Lab, the number of users on whose mobile devices Stalkerware is installed is increasing not only in Russia. In Europe, such programs are most often found in German, Italian and British users.

It is interesting to note that the anti-stalker software coalition was formed in November 2019. It was named Coalition Against Stalkerware. In addition to Kaspersky Lab, it includes 20 organizations. One part of them works in the field of information security, the other helps victims of domestic violence. The coalition is working to raise awareness among people about the threat of stalker software, as well as to counter the crimes that are committed using such programs. 

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Russian Federation
Russia Russian Russian Cyber Security Russian Federation

Experts fear an increase in the number of cyber attacks after the end of self-isolation


As 62% of respondents answered, when companies transferred employees to remote work at the beginning of the pandemic, the most concern was ensuring secure remote access and VPN. 47% of respondents reported that they were concerned about preventing attacks using social engineering methods, and 52% called the protection of endpoints and home Wi-Fi networks of employees one of the main challenges.

"Even before the introduction of self-isolation, many companies allowed employees to work remotely. As soon as the regime entered into force, organizations had no choice but to organize remote access for all their employees as soon as possible. Of course, these measures have led to the emergence of new opportunities for attackers to carry out attacks. Despite the fact that we are now gradually returning to the normal life, the threat of cyber attacks is not decreasing. Companies need to use comprehensive zero-day security solutions to avoid being hit by a large number of next-generation cyber attacks," explained Vasily Diaghilev, head of Check Point Software Technologies representative office in Russia and the CIS.

At the same time, 65% of information security experts noted that their companies are blocking the access of external computers to corporate VPNs. 51% of specialists said that the greatest threat comes from home devices, 33% see the main security threat in mobile devices of employees.

According to Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, the number of cybercrimes in the past five months in Russia has exceeded 180 thousand, which is 85% more than in the same period of time in 2019.

He stressed the importance of taking into account that new schemes and techniques are being developed for cyber attacks.
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Russian Hackers
cyber attack Cyber Attacks Digital Revolution Hacker Group Federal Security Service FSB Russian Federation Russian Hackers

The Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation purchased equipment for hacking smart devices - Hacker group Digital Revolution


Hacker group Digital Revolution published documents according to which the FSB ordered the creation of the Fronton program for organizing cyberattacks using the Internet of things devices.

According to the technical documentation published by hackers, there are three versions of the program — Fronton, Fronton-3D and Fronton-18. They allow infecting smart devices (from digital assistants to smart homes), integrate them into a network and “crash” the servers responsible for the stability of large Internet services and the Internet in entire countries.

It's interesting to note that the Moscow company 0day (LLC 0DT) could have participated in the development of the programs. Previously, the company also carried out orders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to the published documents, the Internet of things is "less secure, unlike mobile devices and servers." This is due to the fact that many users use smart devices instantly, without changing factory usernames and passwords.

FSB contractors cite the experience of Mirai, the largest network of infected IoT devices, which had 600,000 bots. In 2016, it disabled the DNS servers of the American company Dyn, which made PayPal, Twitter, Netflix and about 70 other services unavailable for some time. At the same time, the organizers of the attack did not use computers, but printers, children's monitors and IoT routers.
Hackers noted that Fronton can be used for "spying on the whole world". The BBC suggests that, most likely, the main targets of cyberattacks may be digital cameras.

The documents note that 95% of the botnet should consist of IP cameras and digital video recorders. Search server must find targets for hacking, which can be connected via a virtual private network or the Tor browser. Documentation also emphasizes that "the use of the Russian language and the connected Cyrillic alphabet is excluded". It is suggested to hack devices using a dictionary of typical passwords from the Internet of things devices.

In December 2018, Digital Revolution said that it hacked the server of the Kvant Scientific Research Institute, owned by the FSB, and found documents on the system of automatic monitoring of social networks for protest moods. In the summer of 2019, hackers said that they broke into the servers of the Moscow IT company Sitek, which carried out projects for Russian special services and agencies.
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