Mcafee reports Hackers hacked 72 Nations – know about operation shaddy rat and which nations were how hacked

Mcafee reports Hackers hacked 72 Nations –
know about operation shaddy rat and which nations were how hacked

Information security company Mcafee uncovered one of the largest ever series of cyber attacks in the history.
Hackers targeted the computer networks of 72 organisations around the world over a five-year period, in the biggest hacking campaign discovered to date, security firm McAfee said on Wednesday.


McAfee's chief European technology officer, Raj Samani told to BBC that
the attacks were still going on.

The spying was dubbed "Operation Shady RAT," or "remote access tool" by McAfee -- and it led to a massive loss of information that poses a huge economic threat.

What does the "RAT" in Operation Shady RAT stand for?
RAT stands for "remote access tool," a type of software that hackers and security professionals often use to access computer networks from afar.


Who are the victims?
Which countries or organisations were hacked?
Following is the list of organisations, countries that were hacked.
1. Governments of Canada,
2. India,
3. South Korea,
4. Taiwan,
5. United States
6. Vietnam
7. International bodies such as the United Nations
8. the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
9. the International Olympic Committee
10. the World Anti-Doping Agency
11. - 12 US defense contractors, 1 UK defense contractor
12. Companies in construction
13. steel
14. energy
15. solar power
16. technology
17. satellite communications
18. accounting
19. media
20. Other groups ranging from a US insurance association to the Nevada county government and think tanks.

When the hackers started to attack and how the attack was made?
Mcafee said that attacks started before year 2006 few lasted for a month and few lasted up to 28 months.

The hackers sent so-called spear-phishing emails, which are tainted with malicious software, to specific people at the targeted organisations. When the unsuspecting individual clicks on an infected link, it allows intruders to jump on to the machine and use it to infiltrate the computer network.

McAfee Vice President of Threat Research Dmitri Alperovitch said the attacker sought data that would give it military, diplomatic and economic advantage.

McAfee's Alperovitch said he believes that a nation state was behind the attacks, but he declined to identify it.

Mr. Alperovitch told Reuters that "This is the biggest transfer of wealth in terms of intellectual property in history," he said. "The scale at which this is occurring is really, really frightening."

He said that McAfee had notified all the 72 victims of the attacks, which are under investigation by law enforcement agencies around the world. He declined to give more details, such as the names of the companies hacked.

Jim Lewis, an expert in cyber attacks with the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that presence of Taiwan and the International Olympic Committee in the victims list suggest China is most likely the perpetrator of the attack.

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Tags – News Technology Hacking Mcafee 72 Countries Hacked China