Cyber spies linked to Russia try to hack FO

AN INTERNATIONAL hacking group targeted the Foreign Office in a campaign lasting several months, cyber security experts have revealed.

The Callisto Group is “highly motivated and well resourced” and thought to be involved in intelligence gathering about foreign and security policy.

Cyber security firm F-Secure claimed the group’s infrastructure has links with Russia, China and Ukraine, but did not offer any definitive conclusions about who was behind Callisto.

The Foreign Office was one of the organisations targeted by Callisto in 2016, with other targets including military personnel, government officials, think-tanks and journalists in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus.

Erka Koivunen, chief information security officer at F-Secure said: “We do not have enough data to determine what exactly the Callisto Group were doing with the Foreign Office, or whether any activity concerning them was successfully executed.

“However, we do have indicators that it was targeted by the Callisto Group.”

The Government faces tens of thousands of cyber attacks every month and is aware of several established, capable state and statesponsored groups seeking to penetrate UK networks.

The “active cyber defence” (ACD) programme developed by the Government is aimed at blocking attacks before they reach their intended recipient.

A National Cyber Security Centre spokesman said: “The first duty of Government is to safeguard the nation and as the technical authority on cyber security, the NCSC is delivering ground breaking innovations to make the UK the toughest online target in the world.”