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Scrape Timestamp (UTC): 2025-05-21 19:23:37.638
Source: https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/21/russias_fancy_bear_alert/
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Russia's Fancy Bear swipes a paw at logistics, transport orgs' email servers. 13 govt agencies sound the alarm. Russian cyberspies have targeted "dozens" of Western and NATO-country logistics providers, tech companies, and government orgs providing transport and foreign assistance to Ukraine, according to a joint government announcement issued Wednesday. The orgs they attacked span "virtually all transportation modes: air, sea, and rail," the security advisory [PDF] warns. And it points the finger at the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) military unit 26165, aka APT28 or Fancy Bear. In addition to the logistics and technology entities, the GRU snoops targeted internet-connected cameras at Ukrainian border crossings to track aid shipments. "The actors also conducted reconnaissance on at least one entity involved in the production of industrial control system (ICS) components for railway management, though a successful compromise was not confirmed," the advisory notes. Twenty-one government agencies from the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Denmark, and the Netherlands sounded the alarm, and said the campaign has been ongoing since 2022, which is when Russia first invaded neighboring Ukraine. The government bods' warning follows a similar alert from private research firm Eset last week about the same group of goons using spear phishing emails to target Ukrainian webmail servers that contain cross-site scripting vulnerabilities. To gain access to their victims, Fancy Bear employs its usual mix of credential guessing, spear-phishing, exploiting Microsoft Exchange mailbox permissions, and abusing years-old security flaws across web-based email services and Windows tools including Microsoft Outlook (CVE-2023-23397), Roundcube (CVE-2020-12641, CVE-2020-35730, CVE-2021-44026) and WinRAR (CVE-2023-38831). Once they've broken into the victims' networks, they get to work spying: conducting general reconnaissance to identify additional targets in key positions, snooping on individuals responsible for coordinating transport to Ukraine, and snarfing up information on shipments, such as train schedules and shipping manifests. Russia has used a range of malware in these campaigns against logistics organizations, and the security advisory calls out two backdoors linked to the attacks: Headlace backdoors and Masepie. And to steal data from email servers, the operatives like to use server data exchange protocols and APIs such as Exchange Web Services (EWS) and Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP). "Executives and network defenders at logistics entities and technology companies should recognize the elevated threat of unit 26165 targeting, increase monitoring and threat hunting for known TTPs and indicators of compromise (IOCs), and posture network defenses with a presumption of targeting," the security alert advises.
Daily Brief Summary
Russian military intelligence, GRU unit 26165 (Fancy Bear), has been actively targeting logistics providers across several Western and NATO countries, including technology companies and government organizations involved in aid efforts to Ukraine.
The cybersecurity breach has affected various modes of transportation such as air, sea, and rail, and even stretched to surveillance of internet-connected cameras at Ukrainian border crossings.
The attacks, ongoing since 2022, involved sophisticated methods including spear-phishing, credential theft, and exploitation of vulnerabilities in several software platforms such as Microsoft Exchange and WinRAR.
The operations focused on gathering strategic information like shipment schedules and coordinating personnel details, crucial for Russia’s interest in the geopolitical landscape around Ukraine.
Security advisories from twenty-one government agencies across multiple nations including the US, UK, Canada, and Germany have issued warnings, underlining the severity and broad impact of these cyber espionage efforts.
Two specific malware backdoors, named Headlace and Masepie, were identified as part of the arsenal used in these intrusion campaigns.
The advisory emphasizes increased vigilance and enhanced defensive measures for organizations in the targeted sectors, recommending regular activity monitoring and the integration of strategic defense protocols against such threats.