Microsoft Corp on Tuesday said that a hacking group previously linked to the Russian government and US political hacks was behind recent cyberattacks that exploited a newly discovered Windows security flaw.
The software maker said in an advisory on its Web site there had been a small number of attacks using “spear phishing” e-mails from a hacking group known as Strontium, which is more widely known as “Fancy Bear,” or APT 28. Microsoft did not identify any victims.
Microsoft’s disclosure of the new attacks and the link to Russia came after Washington accused Moscow of launching an unprecedented hacking campaign aimed at disrupting and discrediting the upcoming US election.
Photo: Bloomberg
The US last month formally blamed the Russian government for the election-season hacks of Democratic Party e-mails and their subsequent disclosure via WikiLeaks and other entities. Russia has denied those accusations.
Microsoft said that a patch to protect Windows users against the newly discovered threat will be released on Tuesday next week, which is Election Day. It was not clear whether the Windows vulnerability had been used in any of the recent US political hacks.
Representatives of the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security could not immediately be reached for comment.
A US intelligence expert on Russian cyberactivity said Fancy Bear primarily works for or on behalf of Russian military intelligence agency GRU, which US intelligence officials have concluded were responsible for hacks of Democratic Party databases and e-mails.
In spear phishing, an attacker sends targeted messages, typically via e-mail, that exploit known information to trick victims into clicking on malicious links or open tainted attachments.
Microsoft said the attacks exploited a vulnerability in Adobe Systems Inc’s Flash software and one in the Windows operating system.
Adobe released a patch for that vulnerability on Monday, when security researchers with Google went public with details on the attack.
Microsoft chided rival Google for going public with details of the vulnerabilities before it had time to prepare and test a patch to fix them.
“Google’s decision to disclose these vulnerabilities before patches are broadly available and tested is disappointing, and puts customers at increased risk,” Microsoft said.
A Google representative declined to comment.
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