Weekly Science & Technology Report

Kaspersky Labs reports that over the past five years, a co-ordinated malware campaign called "Rocra" (short for "Red October") has been funneling classified information and geopolitical intelligence from diplomatic, governmental, and scientific research systems all over the world. It uses known exploits in Microsoft Word and Excel documents to gain access to users’ systems, relying on a targeted social engineering or "spear phishing" element in order to trick users into opening the infected files; collating data about multiple future targets (such as account login credentials) and using it to create something that’s more likely for the target to click on. In an interview with The New York Times, the organization’s chief malware... Continue reading…