Israel warned US that Russian hackers were spying through Kaspersky software
Israel warned the US that Russian hackers were using Kaspersky products to steal information, including from the NSA. The New York Times reports this based on its own sources. The activities were discovered because Israel allegedly gave itself access to Kaspersky.
Russia was able to steal documents from the NSA because an employee stored them on a home PC that had the Russian company’s security software installed, the newspaper said, citing US government sources. The country may have used the software, which is used by 400 million people, to gather even more information. It is not known whether that happened. Israel warned the US after it discovered the activities within Kaspersky that it would have gained access to the company network in 2014.
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing its own sources, that the hack on the NSA subcontractor in 2015 would have taken place via Kaspersky software. The paper cited experts who claim the security suite may have identified NSA data as potentially malicious code. The Russian security company denies to The New York Times that it knew of or assisted in the Russian activities described. It says it would never assist countries in their espionage. It also asked for ‘relevant, verifiable information with which it can initiate an investigation as soon as possible’. CEO Eugene Kaspersky said Wednesday that an internal investigation will take place.
Kaspersky discovered in 2015 that Israeli hackers had penetrated his corporate network, the newspaper continues. In that year, the company published its own report on its findings. At the time, it said it was an advanced attack in which the attackers used three zero days. It did not directly refer to a responsible party, but stated that it was the makers of the Duqu malware. That’s why the malware that hit Kaspersky called it Duqu 2.0. The Duqu malware would also come from the makers of Stuxnet, which is attributed to the US and Israel.
The paper says the information from the Israeli hack was in large part the reason that the US government recently decided to stop the use of Kaspersky software. The government cited possible links with Russian intelligence services as the reason. Over time, the software is said to have been used by the ministries of defense and justice, as well as the air force and navy, among others.