APT28 Hacking Group Attacking Sporting Organizations Around the World Using Custom Malware

Microsoft warns of cyberattacks targeting anti-doping authorities and sporting organizations around the world. The group active since 2004 and they target government, military, and security organizations.

According to the Microsoft report, more than 16 national and international sporting and anti-doping organizations were targeted since September 16th.

The group is attributed to the Russian government, the group has a practice of registering looks like legitimate domains associated with news, politics, or other websites.

Microsoft said some of the attacks were successful, but most of the attacks are not successful. The attack found similar to the previous attack on various organizations.

APT28 group uses various attack methods such as spear-phishing, password spray, exploiting internet-connected devices and open-source malware.

The group uses several malware to attack victim’s and their primary malware is called Sofacy, the malware uses two primary components.

Trojan.Sofacy – Basic reconnaissance on an infected computer and drop another malware.
Backdoor.SofacyX – It is another malware using to steal the data from the infected computer.

The group has a history of targeting such organizations, in 2016 & 2018 the group targets various sporting organizations and anti-doping officials. The group released the stolen medical records online.

As the world looks forward with anticipation of the Tokyo Summer Games in 2020, we thought it important to share information about this new round of activity, read Microsoft blog post.

The group was supported by many developers and they used to update their tools since 2007. the group employs RSA encryption to protect files and stolen information.

Microsoft also notified that all customers targeted in these attacks and has worked with those who have sought our help to secure compromised accounts or systems.

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