The FBI is working with partners across the globe to ensure Snake's international functionality remains impaired.

The neutralizing actions this week could have a 'cascading impact' on other malicious software systems used by the Russian government that would make reimplementing Snake very difficult, the officials added. officials contend Operation Medusa disabled 'a significant number of virtual infrastructures' used by the FSB and Turla to deploy the Snake malware.

Investigators allege the Snake malware had been used since 2004 by an arm of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) known as Turla to stealthily exfiltrate documents of interest to the Russian government and avoid detection.Īfter working with the private sector and victims for a decade, senior FBI officials said they expect the international takedown coordinated with foreign partners would stop Russia's 'very consequential campaign.' The U.S. Officials say the malicious software known as 'Snake' served as a covert avenue by which Russia's intelligence forces stole and transmitted information from a targeted victim base that included NATO member governments, journalists and financial and technology sectors. succeeded, thanks to a digital tool called 'Perseus' that turned the malware's functionality against itself and forced the program to self-destruct on infected computers. Washington - The FBI disrupted a 20-year-old sophisticated malware network used by the Russian government to collect sensitive information from hundreds of infected computers across 50 countries, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.ĭubbed 'Operation Medusa,' the FBI says its court-authorized neutralization of the Kremlin-backed hackers in the U.S.

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