Russian hackers attack WhatsApp accounts of ministers from several countries

by Andrea
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Russian hackers attack WhatsApp accounts of ministers from several countries

They sent an email from which they would be able to access all the content shared on that social network

A group of hackers linked to the Russian State attacked a series of Whatsapp social network accounts belonging to several ministers and government officials around the world, sending emails inviting victims to join groups on that platform.

According to the newspaper, this was an attack carried out by a group called Star Blizzard, an organization that the United Kingdom’s National Cyber ​​Security Center has already linked to the Russian Federal Security Service, which leads Moscow’s secret services.

That British body accuses the group of hackers of seeking to “undermine political trust in the United Kingdom and in states with similar ideologies”.

According to a Microsoft blog, victims received an email from a hacker who pretended to be a US government official, and who encouraged the recipient of the message to enter a QR Code that would end up causing the hacker to give access to the account of the attacked person.

This code, instead of giving access to a Whatsapp group, ended up connecting the attacked person’s account to another device, from which hackers would be able to access the content.

“Attackers can gain access to messages from Whatsapp accounts and be able to extract data from that account”, highlights Microsoft, warning of the dangers of this scheme.

Despite the warnings, Microsoft has not said whether the attack was successful. CNN Portugal contacted the Government in order to find out if State services were, in any way, affected, but has not received a response so far.

In the email sent, the attacker encouraged victims to join groups with the “latest government initiatives aimed at supporting Ukraine”. In addition to being aimed at ministers and other officials from several countries, the campaign also tried to reach people involved in diplomacy.

The Star Blizzard group was already under surveillance in the United Kingdom, where in 2023 it attacked several MPs, universities and journalists, in an attempt to “interfere in UK politics and democracy”.

British authorities describe the organization as “almost certainly subordinate” to the Russian secret services, specifically Unit 18 of the Federal Security Service.

Faced with this type of attack, Microsoft recommends that email users who have been targeted by this scheme should continue to be vigilant, particularly when dealing with email.

“If in doubt, contact the person you think is sending the email,” says the company.

source

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