US officials, military and journalists targeted by hackers with ties to Russian intelligence. Alert issued by the FBI
Hackers with ties to Russian intelligence are targeting users of messaging apps such as Signal, the FBI and CISA, the US cyber defense agency, warned on Friday.
In a joint warning, the FBI and CISA said the hackers were able to access thousands of such accounts. The two institutions did not go into details.
“The activity targets individuals with a high intelligence value, such as current and former US government officials, military personnel, political figures, and journalists,” the advisory said.
The FBI and CISA explained that it wasn't an encryption problem, but the hackers were able to bypass the app's protections by posing as security personnel and tricking users into divulging their security codes.
Representatives for Signal and the Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
The U.S. alert is similar to a warning issued earlier this month by Dutch intelligence officials, who said successful hackers had launched a global campaign to gain access to Signal and WhatsApp accounts used by officials and other intelligence targets.
In response to the Dutch authorities' warning, Signal said the cyberattacks were “executed through sophisticated phishing campaigns designed to trick users into sharing information,” but that its infrastructure and encryption were not compromised.
