The FBI has seized control of thousands of routers and firewalls from Russian military hackers, stealing the same devices used by Moscow spies to set up a “botnet” – a network of hacked computers that can bomb other computers. ROADS. “Fortunately, we were able to shut down this botnet before it could be used,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told a news conference. The FBI conducted its court-authorized operation in March 2022, shutting down a global botnet of two levels of thousands of infected network hardware devices under the control of a threat agent known as Sandworm, which the U.S. government had previously attributed to its Chief Intelligence Officer. Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU), the Ministry of Justice announced in a statement. RUSSIA INVASES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES The feature copied and removed malware from firewalls used by Sandworm to command and control the botnet. While the company did not have access to the Sandworm malware on the underlying victim devices, disabling the command and control mechanism cut off the bots from controlling the Sandworm devices, shutting down Russian military hackers. “Through close cooperation with WatchGuard [Technologies Inc.] “and our law enforcement partners have identified, discontinued, and uncovered another example of hacking innocent victims by the Russian GRU in the United States and around the world,” said U.S. Attorney Cindy K. Chung of the Western Pennsylvania District. in a statement. Russian President Vladimir Putin is shown above. The country has consistently denied any role in the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter on British soil. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) “Such activities are not only criminal, but also threaten the national security of the United States and its allies,” Chung added. “My office remains committed to working with our partners in the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, foreign law enforcement and the private sector to defend and safeguard our nation’s cybersecurity.” “The FBI prides itself on working closely with law enforcement and the private sector to uncover criminals behind their computers and launch attacks that threaten the safety, security and confidence of Americans in our digitally connected world.” Special Agent Mike Nordwall said in a statement to the FBI on-site office in Pittsburgh. “The FBI has a firm commitment to fight and stop Russia’s efforts to gain a foothold in the networks of the United States and its allies.” The malware involved, Cyclops Blink, targets network devices manufactured by WatchGuard Technologies Inc. and ASUSTek Computer Inc. UKRAINIAN INFORMATION PUBLISHES NAMES OF MORE THAN 600 ALLEGED RUSSIAN SPIES While the FBI managed to copy and remove malware from all remaining identified command and control devices and prevented Sandworm from accessing these devices, WatchGuard and ASUS bot-operated devices may remain vulnerable to Sandworm if device owners do not receive WatchGuard and ASUS has recommended detection and recovery steps, the DOJ has warned. The department urged network advocates and device owners to review the department’s advice on Feb. 23 and the guidance papers published by WatchGuard and ASUS. The operation took place almost a month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Late last month, Ukraine’s intelligence service released a list of more than 600 Russian spies. Shortly before that, Russian President Vladimir Putin According to reports put under house arrest two FSB agents allegedly spying on Ukraine after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine proved far more difficult than Putin had initially thought. Rep. Ritchie Torres, DN.Y., is called The FBI is investigating the Russian Diplomatic Compound, based in New York, which experts had previously told Fox News Digital that it houses US diplomats to spy on America. View of the Russian Diplomatic Compound at 355 West 255th Street (Google Maps) “We are terrified and worried about Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked offensive against Ukraine. “We are terrified of his war crimes against the Ukrainian people, and in this context I formally asked the FBI to launch an investigation into allegations of espionage in the Russian diplomatic corps,” Torres told reporters Tuesday about the white high-rise tower. located at 355 West 255th Streetin the Bronx. CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION The Bronx Democrat called it “both a metaphorical and a literal surveillance structure.”
