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from the We-have-always-been-at-war-with-Eurasia dept.
For a moment, it seemed the hackers had slipped up and exposed their identities. It was the summer of 2013, and European investigators were looking into an unprecedented breach of Belgium's telecommunications infrastructure. They believed they were on the trail of the people responsible. But it would soon become clear that they were chasing ghosts – fake names that had been invented by British spies.
[...] The covert operation was the first documented example of a European Union member state hacking the critical infrastructure of another. The malware infection triggered a massive cleanup operation within Belgacom, which has since renamed itself Proximus. The company – of which the Belgian government is the majority owner – was forced to replace thousands of its computers at a cost of several million Euros. Elio di Rupo, Belgium's then-prime minister, was furious, calling the hack a "violation." Meanwhile, one of the country's top federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the intrusion.
The criminal investigation has remained open for more than four years, but no details about its activities have been made public. Now, following interviews with five sources close to the case, The Intercept – in collaboration with Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant – has gained insight into the probe and uncovered new information about the scope of the hack.
Interesting both from the technical and the political viewpoints, this episode could have unexpected results for the future. Despite the egregious misuse of "hack" and related words.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Dr Spin on Tuesday February 20 2018, @06:15AM (4 children)
Even more interesting is that a hack disguised as MS software can only be removed by scrapping the computers.
Can Belgians not tell the difference between hardware and software, or is massive corruption involved here?
Either way, further proof that if security is required, using MS products is not recommended.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday February 20 2018, @06:42AM
If you're running Windows on Intel that line has been more than blurred. There's virtually no software in the system, and the hardware is pre-compromised.
Unfortunately they probably replaced it with newer version of the same scat, which just makes the issues worse.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by EETech1 on Tuesday February 20 2018, @10:34AM
I have no doubt they did more than just corrupt the windows installation.
The TLAs (and FLAs) have spent a fortune on persistent malware that simply can't be removed by a Windows rescue disc.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday February 20 2018, @05:20PM (1 child)
Sometimes the cheapest solution is to get a new computer. Especially, if you don't have anything you can't replace on said computer. Best thing to do for yourself is to back up your photos and other Hard to replace things. Things like Microsoft Word, Steam Games, etc, can be easily replaced. When talking government hacks or targeted hacks, replacing the software may not cut it, but in general wiping a computer should be sufficient. Think, boot and nuke + windows reinstall. Trying to use a windows repair disc to fix an infected isn't a terrible idea, but you'd want to totally wipe the HDD. I'm not sure a windows repair disc will do that and / or makes it simple to do. Simpler to just use something like GParted to nuke the drive. Then do a normal windows reinstall or better yet, ditch windows for something more useful. Linux or some other variant of Unix is probably more reliable and would most likely do anything a typical office would need.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 20 2018, @08:55PM
There exists sophisticated malware that rewrites the firmware of hard disk ( and SSD ) controllers, which allows reinfection of disks 'cleaned' by writing zeros across the whole disk using dd or other software. Nasties can also be hidden in GPU firmware. When dealing with nation states, destroying and replacing possibly compromised hardware is the only way to go.