Hackers break into FSB contractor, expose plans to deanonymize Tor

[midian182]

What just happened? Russia’s notorious Federal Security Service (FSB) has been accused of being behind numerous hacks, but now the tables have turned. SyTech, a contractor for the intelligence service, has been breached and had several of its projects exposed.

On July 13, a hacking group using the name 0v1ru$ broke into SyTech’s Active Directory server and from there breached the entire network, including a JIRA instance, reports ZDNet. They stole 7.5TB of data and added a ‘YOBA face,’ which is what Russians call the Comfy Guy meme, to the company’s website.

0v1ru$ shared the information with fellow hacking group Digital Revolution, which in turn shared it on Twitter and with Russian journalists.

Все мы, журналисты, студенты и даже пенсионеры, находимся под навлюдением ФСБ. Присоединяйтесь к нам, как и 0V1ru$, защищая наше будущее! Они не заглушат наши голоса! @tjournal @Dobrokhotov @bbcrussian @unkn0wnerror pic.twitter.com/HUYDas7FSN

— DigitalRevolution (@D1G1R3V) July 18, 2019

The most notable of the uncovered projects was Nautilus-S, which aims to deanonymize Tor traffic using rogue Tor servers, presumable to identify political dissidents, writes Engadget.

Other projects include Nautilus (no ‘-S’ on this one), which collects data on social media users. There’s also Reward, a project for accessing P2P networks; Mentor, which monitors and searches Russian companies’ email communications on their servers; Hope, a project that maps the Russian internet and how it connects to other countries; and Tax-3, a closed intranet for storing key information on “highly-sensitive state figures, judges, and local administration officials.” Other files indicated that the FSB was tracking students and pensioners.

BBC Russia reports that the leak may be the “largest in the history of the work of Russian special services on the Internet.”

SyTech has reportedly taken down its website and is refusing to answer media inquiries.

Back in May, Russia signed a law that requires ISPs to be able to disconnect from the outside internet. Internet providers must install equipment that routes traffic through Russia-based servers, which will be overseen by censorship body Roskomnazor.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/81061-hackers-break-fsb-contractor-expose-plans-deanonymize-tor.html

 

[Puiu]

This is pretty much what every country is trying to do.

 

[psycros]

This is pretty much what every country is trying to do.

True. The only difference is that ones like Russia and China don't make much of an effort to hide their totalitarian aims. Fortunately the TOR community has long been aware of the efforts by governments to control a significant percentage of nodes and have been continually working to thwart them.

 

[Igrecman]

He looks like a villain from James Bond movie.

 

[Impudicus]

Thankfully the NSA doesn't do anything like this to American citizens.

 

[gamerk2]

This is pretty much what every country is trying to do.

Eventually, the Internet is going to break up into private networks that will not be able to communicate with eachother. It's been moving that way for quite some time.

 

[noel24]

He looks like a villain from James Bond movie.

He does.
Now imagine He's a real person, doing what James Bond's villains do. And He's getting away with this at the end of each episode...
[insert Ernst Stavro Blofeld laughter here]

 

[toooooot]

Thankfully the NSA doesn't do anything like this to American citizens.

I remember an awesome tool stolen from NSA. It was leaked and somebody tested it. It allows or allowed to take admin control of remote routers made by Cisco and Juniper.

Now it is time to see what Russian tools can do.

 

[ypsylon]

We are so faaaaar ahead of what Orwell portrayed in 1984...

And let's not use euphemisms about FSB. It's Cheka vel NKVD vel KGB. Switching military uniforms for black, expensive suits is the only change over glorious - filled with butchery - past of 102 years.

 

[Raytrace3D]

He looks like a villain from James Bond movie.

He IS a villain from a James Bond movie.

 

[Black Paper]

Am I the only one that read FSB as Front-Side Bus?

 

[Yynxs]

Another lie by the fake news media. It was Trump, trying to hide his Russian connection.

and yes, first thing I read was front-side buss (sic), {semi-tech humor}.

yynxs

 

[captaincranky]

He looks like a villain from James Bond movie.

He will likely become a template for the villain in a future Bond movie...

 

[Yynxs]

In villainizing Putin I am reminded of the people who villainized Saddam and the results 30 years after we went toliberate the Middle East. Like the Middle East, Russia covers vast tracts of land peopled by those who would pogrom destroy anyone not agreeing with or like them.

Perhaps those who look down on Russia today should study the history of the peoples there, all of the peoples there.

Start with Genghis Khan and work forward.