Cybersecurity experts have recorded an increase in the number of hacker attacks on Russian research institutes (SRIs). Military-industrial and medical developments have become targets for burglars. At the same time, attackers from abroad are not only spying on scientists, but also trying to destroy critical infrastructure.
Foreign hackers are showing great interest in Russian research institutes that are engaged in military development, as well as the creation of vaccines against coronavirus, Group-IB told Kommersant. Data on the growth of targeted attacks on scientific institutions was confirmed by Doctor Web.
The experts said that in September 2020, they were approached by one of the domestic research institutes, whose network was hacked by two hacker groups at once. One of them has been spying on scientists since 2017. A similar malware was then found on the network of another institution, which has been monitored since May 2019.
Sometimes hackers use several viruses at once. For example, in the network of one of its clients, Group-IB specialists identified six types of such programs, including in accounting, on employees' work and mobile devices. At the same time, cybercriminals usually do not immediately launch malware into the network and pre-use auxiliary modules that prevent Trojans from being detected, added Denis Legozo, senior cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky Lab.
Experts believe that pro-government hackers are primarily interested in scientific institutions, and that stolen information is often used for political purposes. According to Igor Zalevsky, head of the department for investigating cyber incidents at Rostelecom-Solara, usually critical information is stored in closed segments. But 90% of state organizations have so-called points of connectivity between the public and the closed segment. This is where hackers attack.
Crackers around the world are interested in coronavirus vaccine development data. For example, in December 2020, cybercriminals gained access to information about the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines. To do this, they hacked into the servers of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
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