Russians Used Malware On Android Devices To Track and Target Ukraine Artillery, Says Report (reuters.com)

schwit1 quotes a report from Reuters: A hacking group linked to the Russian government and high-profile cyber attacks against Democrats during the U.S. presidential election likely used a malware implant on Android devices to track and target Ukrainian artillery units from late 2014 through 2016, according to a new report released Thursday. The malware was able to retrieve communications and some locational data from infected devices, intelligence that would have likely been used to strike against the artillery in support of pro-Russian separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine, the report from cyber security firm CrowdStrike found. The hacking group, known commonly as Fancy Bear or APT 28, is believed by U.S. intelligence officials to work primarily on behalf of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency. The implant leveraged a legitimate Android application developed by a Ukrainian artillery officer to process targeting data more quickly, CrowdStrike said. Its deployment "extends Russian cyber capabilities to the front lines of the battlefield," the report said, and "could have facilitated anticipatory awareness of Ukrainian artillery force troop movement, thus providing Russian forces with useful strategic planning information."

Comments

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Damn Hillary was in charge of 9 different government agencies? Wait no you are spreading fake news.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/10/26/the-facts-behind-trumps-repeated-claim-about-hillary-clintons-role-in-the-russian-uranium-deal/
http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2016/sep/30/donald-trump/nuclear-claim-donald-trump-says-hillary-clinton-ga/

The State Department was one of nine agencies comprising CFIUS, which vets potential national security impacts of transactions where a foreign government gains control of a U.S. company. It was established by Congress in 2007 after the controversy over the planned purchase of seaports by a company in United Arab Emirates. The other agencies were the departments of Treasury, Defense, Justice, Commerce, Energy and Homeland Security, and two White House agencies (Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and Office of Science and Technology Policy).

Next: There Was No Tea Tax!

[Mikkeles]

In 1773, the Russians hacked the mail ships and inserted the message that there was to be a Tea Tax.

The American revolution was an error!

Re:Why?

[quantaman]

Why would the Russians, who are close allies with Hillary since she sold them a chunk (20%) of the US uranium deposits for a simple donation to the Clinton Foundation

The State Dept. was one of nine agencies who reviewed the deal. And Clinton wasn't even the State Department person who sat on the committee who reviewed it.

And the biggest donor didn't even have a financial stake in the company in question at the time he donated to the Clinton Foundation.

and the fake news sites (CNN, etc) are so relentless on spreading this rumor without any evidence.

Yes imagine, someone spreading rumours of corruption without evidence.

Re:Why?

[Swave An deBwoner]

And imagine someone downvoting your informative post. No, wait -- no imagination is necessary, some crank already did exactly that.

Phones

[tsotha]

Why would anyone allow soldiers in his command to use cell phones in an active war zone? That seems daft.

Re:Phones

[Anonymous Coward]

The Ukrainian army was systematically undermined (i.e. weapons, planes, navy ships, communications hardware was sold off) during previous administrations, which had all been corrupt to varying degrees. The Yanukovych administration (whose shocking corruption and increasingly authoritarian tendencies would cause a popular revolution) in particular, was systematically disassembling Ukraine's army, probably under Russian guidance. When Russia invaded Crimea, Ukraine was essentially unable to front any sort of response. By the time Russia invaded Donbas, Ukraine's civil society had gotten a makeshift army together, which consisted partly of volunteers (the volunteer units would eventually be integrated into the official army). To compensate for shortfalls in funding and equipment, army staff and engineers had to use ingenuity, which often resulted in less than ideal solutions, especially when considering that they were up against the Russian army, which has some of the best artillery and communications equipment in the world. Basically, the choice was often to use a suboptimal solution, or to use nothing at all, so they used the suboptimal solution - this included using mobile phones for communications, as well as other purposes.

Re:Why?

[skids]

We have to call it what it is: "Russian Cyber Espionage". This is "Russian cyber espionage" and Trump won't even mention the word, and nor will Rex Tillerson. He won't use the term ‘Russian cyber espionage,’ Now, to solve a problem, you have to be able to state what the problem is or at least say the name. Trump won't say the name and Tillerson won't say the name. But the name is there. It's "Russian cyber espionage."