Western Hackers Used Russia’s Own Ransomware Against It In Cyberattack on Roscosmos: Report

A report quoted a group of hackers as saying that Putin no longer controls Russia’s spy satellites. Nearly a month after a cyberattack on Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, it has been revealed that the hackers used Kremlin’s own medicine against them. According to The Telegraph, hackers linked to Anonymous – Network Battalion 65 or NB65 – had revealed last month that they had stolen a bunch of files from the Roscosmos. They had stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin “no longer has control over spy satellites”.

To prove that they had the files, the group even shared a tweet that claimed to be a Russian space agency’s server information. Now, a month later, some of the files that were downloaded from the server and uploaded to the internet have been analyzed. Citing Intezer Analyze, The Telegraph reported that one file’s source code was made up of 66 percent “of the same code as that of Conti”, which is Russian cybercrime ransomware that caused havoc on IT systems across the globe.

The group that invented ‘Conti’ had used the ransomware to extort millions of dollars from the United States and Europe when their cyberattacks targeted hospitals and health services. The hackers using ‘Conti’ had even declared support for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and warned that it will retaliate if cyberattacks are launched against the Kremlin.