US, Britain Warn of Russian ‘Brute Force’ Cyber Campaign

WASHINGTON - The United States and Britain are sounding another alarm about Russian activity in cyberspace, accusing the Kremlin of repeatedly trying to smash its way into the critical systems of government agencies, defense contractors, universities, and even political parties.

A joint advisory Thursday from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain’s National Cyber Security Center said Russian military intelligence has been carrying out a “brute force” campaign since 2019 – getting a hold of credentials, like email logins, and then guessing passwords to gain entry.  “After gaining remote access, many well-known tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) are combined to move laterally, evade defenses, and collect additional information within target networks,” the advisory said. The advisory noted that Russia’s GRU has successfully targeted hundreds of U.S. and foreign organizations, as well as various U.S. government agencies, such as the Department of Defense.