Russia Backed Spyware Attacks Europe and USA? Not Necessarily Russian
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/07/us-russia-cyberespionage-insight-idUSBREA260YI20140307
Unnamed security researchers and intelligence officers claim that Turla software has attacked European and US government computer systems to take control of them. http://article.wn.com/view/2014/03/07/Suspected_Russian_spyware_Turla_targets_Europe_US_1/
News of the spyware infection is now sweeping Europe. http://news168.co.uk/index/suspected-russian-spyware-turla-targets-europe-us And the US news agencies have started reporting the story, too. http://www.newshour24.com/business/1ze3akmm16/Suspected-Russian-Spyware-Turla-Targets-Europe-Us-Reuters.htm
Analysts at http://HamiltonFinanceServices.com expect much more news to hit on Turla and similar spyware in the next few days, but the news for now says that hackers backed by the Russian government use a specific style of software design and execution precisely like that employed by the spyware called Turla. European and US government agencies have circulated internal IT memos for how to identify and quarantine the spyware, but because the spyware shuts down via remote commands when detected, some or perhaps many government agencies cannot detect it without thousands of hours of code scrubbing. Costs associated with this type of cyber attack mount quickly into millions of Euros.
The http://HamiltonFinanceServices.com (HFS) analysts further opine that because the style of software design and execution has been closely identified with known or suspected Russian free-lance software developers, the possibility exists that some forces unrelated to Russia might be funding the same free-lancers. If so, cyber intelligence claims tainting Russia could be politically motivated as Ukraine tensions mount at the UN. The HFS analysts caution that no one really knows at this time who has retained the free-lance software designers behind Turla because no one has taken credit for the attack.
In general perpetrators don’t take credit for their attacks, particularly if they are government sponsored. Russia, China and Iran in general do not have good track records in this regards. My money is on Russia as the instigator of this attack, the Crimea notwithstanding.