US and Britain warn of Russia's 'malicious cyber activity'

The government agencies reportedly found cyber attacks by Russia targeting devices such as internet routers.

(Photo: Representational)

New Delhi: In a rare joint statement released by Britain and the United States on Monday, a warning has been issued against “malicious cyber activity” carried out by Russian state. UK’s National Cyber Security Centre and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security, took out the technical alert reportedly. The alert has warned everybody, from internet service providers to home office customers to heed the warning, after the government agencies found cyber attacks targeting devices such as internet routers. As per the reports, the statement states that the targets of this malicious cyber activity are primarily government and private-sector organisations, critical infrastructure providers and the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) supporting these sectors. The US-UK team warned that the Russia sponsored actors are using compromised routers to conduct spoofing man-in-the-middle attacks to support espionage and to extract intellectual property of the country. They are maintaining persistent access to victim networks and can be paving way for future offensive operations. The alert reportedly said that the Russian malpractice of exploiting the US and UK network devices threatens safety security and economic well-being of the countries. The warning has been issued jointly by the countries after collectively launching airstrikes on Syria, much to Russia's displeasure. The two countries also stand against Russia in ex-spy poisoning case.