In the near future, some Gmail users may expect cyberattacks, mainly politicians and journalists, Google warns. As reported, the action may be controlled by APT28 (Fancy Bear), a group of cybercriminals controlled by Russian services.
The warning was sent to approximately 14,000 people. Google users – they can become targets of cyber attacks supported by Russian centers – this information was provided by the White House cyber security service. Google has announced a security update – especially for the email accounts of important users, including politicians and journalists.
All indications are that the APT28 (Fancy Bear) hacker group is behind the potential attack. It is a Russia-related organization that has recently stepped up its activities.
“State-backed APT attacks are not new and will continue to pose a serious threat because cyberwar is just part of modern geopolitics,” said Erich Krohn, a former US security manager. 2nd Regional Cyber Center of the Army.
“The current warning is basically telling people that they might be a potential target for the next attack, so now might be the right time to take some security measures,” said Shane Huntley, head of the Google Threat Analysis Group (TAG). sponsored by specific states.
– If you are an activist, journalist, government employee or work for NatSec, this warning, frankly, should not come as a surprise. At some point, a unit backed by a foreign government is likely to try to send you something, he adds.
Experts point out that APT28 has been operating since at least 2004 under the auspices of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the 85th military unit of the Main Center for Special Services 26165.
It is possible that the group participated in the attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2016 in order to disrupt the US presidential election.