The Regin spyware , which has been in operation since 2008, is linked to American and British intelligence agencies, The Intercept website reveals.
The American IT group Symantec announced on Sunday that it had discovered software whose technical complexity suggests that its creation was at least under the supervision of a state's intelligence services.
According to The Intercept, this software appears to be linked to US and British intelligence services and was used in cyberattacks against European government networks and against a Belgian telecommunications network.
Citing sources in the IT sector and technical analysis of the software, the website The Intercept reports that the Regin virus refers to the US National Security Agency (NSA) documents published by Edward Snowden that revealed the scope of US surveillance programs.
When asked about this information, an NSA replied: "We are not going to comment on rumors."
"Symantec teams detected network breaches in ten countries, first in Russia, then in Saudi Arabia, two countries in which a quarter of cyberattacks are concentrated," according to Candide Wiest, an analyst at Symantec.
The other countries that have been attacked in order of severity are Mexico, Ireland, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Belgium, Austria and Pakistan.
Unlike the Stuxnet malware, which attacked the centrifuges of Iran's uranium enrichment system, Regin's goal is to gather data and not to sabotage an industrial plant's control system.
Its complexity refers to a creation phase that lasted many months, even years, and required significant funding.
"The time and resources used show that a state is responsible," asserts Candide Wiest.
Its creators made significant efforts to make the virus's presence as discreet as possible, thus allowing its use in long-term espionage activities.
The Regin virus was first detected last year by Symantec. It was initially used between 2008 and 2011, when it was suddenly withdrawn. A new version of it resurfaced in 2013, which is still active today.
Source: imerisia.gr
