Microsoft makes progress in attempt to shut down hacking group linked to Russian govt

Tech giants Microsoft is reportedly making headway in its attempt to shut down Russian hacking group Fancy Bear.

For more than a year, Microsoft has been working to shut down the hacking group believed to have ties to the Russian government, through what some might consider an unorthodox method: the courts.

Recent reports suggests that the Redmond tech giant’s suit against the group has disrupted the “command and control” servers that the hackers use to direct their attacks.

The Daily Beast reports that Microsoft has managed to capture 70 of these control points since August by taking over domain names rather than physical servers.

Read also: Apple gets backing from Google, Samsung in legal battle with Qualcomm

Microsoft is then able to re-route those domains away from servers used by the hacking group to its own, where it can separate the malicious code from victims and get a window into Fancy Bear’s actions.

Fancy Bear is known for registering domain names that sound like Microsoft products, which opened them up to one of Microsoft’s legal claims, trademark infringement.

The hacking group, according to The Daily Beast, has breached NATO, the Obama White House, numerous military agencies and NGOs around the world, and perhaps most famously, the Democratic National Committee.

 

RipplesNigeria ….without borders, without fears

Click here to download the Ripples Nigeria App for latest updates

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now