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Russian Hackers Exploit Old Cisco Vulnerability to Target U.S. Critical Infrastructure

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Last updated
3 unique sources, 3 articles

Summary

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Russian hackers, tracked as Static Tundra and associated with the FSB's Center 16 or Military Unit 71330, have been exploiting a seven-year-old vulnerability (CVE-2018-0171) in unpatched end-of-life Cisco networking devices to target enterprise and critical infrastructure networks in the U.S. and abroad. The attacks, ongoing since at least August 2024, have compromised thousands of devices, allowing the attackers to collect configuration files, change settings, and gain unauthorized access. The U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on three FSB officers involved in these cyberattacks. The targets include organizations in the manufacturing, telecommunications, higher education, and energy sectors. The attackers use stolen SNMP credentials to control compromised devices, enabling them to run commands, change settings, and steal configurations while evading detection. They also create new local user accounts and enable remote access services like Telnet to maintain access. The attacks highlight the persistent threat of unpatched vulnerabilities and the need for robust cybersecurity measures to protect critical infrastructure. The three FSB officers, Marat Valeryevich Tyukov, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gavrilov, and Pavel Aleksandrovich Akulov, targeted more than 380 foreign energy-sector companies in 135 countries. The suspects targeted American and foreign oil and gas firms, nuclear power plants, renewable energy firms, utility and electrical grid entities, consulting and engineering groups, and advanced technology companies. In August 2021, these officers were indicted in the US with charges of computer fraud and abuse, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The Dragonfly campaign involved obtaining persistent access to victim networks and infecting them with the Havex malware through supply chain compromise. In the second phase, known as Dragonfly 2.0, the three allegedly targeted over 3,300 users at more than 500 US and international companies and entities, including US government agencies, in spear-phishing attacks.

Timeline

  1. 04.09.2025 15:25 1 articles · 25d ago

    FSB Officers Target Energy Sector in Dragonfly Campaign

    The Dragonfly campaign involved obtaining persistent access to victim networks and infecting them with the Havex malware through supply chain compromise. In the second phase, known as Dragonfly 2.0, the three FSB officers allegedly targeted over 3,300 users at more than 500 US and international companies and entities, including US government agencies, in spear-phishing attacks.

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  2. 03.09.2025 22:01 2 articles · 26d ago

    U.S. Offers $10 Million Bounty for Information on Russian FSB Hackers

    The three FSB officers, Marat Valeryevich Tyukov, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gavrilov, and Pavel Aleksandrovich Akulov, targeted more than 380 foreign energy-sector companies in 135 countries. The suspects targeted American and foreign oil and gas firms, nuclear power plants, renewable energy firms, utility and electrical grid entities, consulting and engineering groups, and advanced technology companies. The three FSB officers were indicted in the US in August 2021 with charges of computer fraud and abuse, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

    Show sources
  3. 25.08.2025 15:17 3 articles · 1mo ago

    Russian Hackers Exploit Old Cisco Vulnerability to Target U.S. Critical Infrastructure

    The attacks have targeted more than 380 foreign energy-sector companies in 135 countries. The suspects targeted American and foreign oil and gas firms, nuclear power plants, renewable energy firms, utility and electrical grid entities, consulting and engineering groups, and advanced technology companies. The three FSB officers, Marat Valeryevich Tyukov, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gavrilov, and Pavel Aleksandrovich Akulov, were indicted in the US in August 2021 with charges of computer fraud and abuse, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

    Show sources

Information Snippets

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