The United States (US) through Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday (6/4) said it had secretly removed malware from the world's internet network in recent weeks. This step was taken to prevent cyber attacks from Russia.
In a statement, Garland said the move was a response to Russia's attempted cyberattacks targeting financial companies, pipelines and power grids.
According to the New York Times, the malware targeted allowed Russia to conduct a "botnet", a network of private computers controlled by the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency.
Unfortunately, Garland did not explain the working system of the malware in question. It only mentions that the malware can be used for everything from surveillance to malicious attacks.
"Fortunately, we were able to block this botnet before it could be used," Garland said.
Armed with secret court orders in the US and help from governments around the world, the Justice Department and the FBI cut off the network of GRU controllers themselves.
Court orders allow the FBI to break into domestic company networks and remove malware, sometimes without the company's knowledge, and sometimes without the companies themselves knowing.
Russian cyberattack targets Ukraine
Until now the relevant officials in the US still believe that the Russian cyberattack has been specifically directed at Ukraine. One of the malware that was prepared was even said to be able to paralyze Ukrainian government offices and attack a European satellite system called Viasat.
The satellite attack incident is of particular concern to the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies. For them, it has exposed vulnerabilities in critical communications systems that could be exploited by Russia and others.
The Biden administration has instructed key infrastructure companies in the US to prepare to withstand Russian cyberattacks. The same call has also been echoed by the British government.
Researchers say that recent malware activity in Ukraine demonstrates Russia's growing desire to cause digital harm.
They also suspect Russia could be responsible for other cyberattacks that have occurred since the war began, including on Ukrainian communications services.
Ukrainian officials said Russia was also behind efforts to spread disinformation about the surrender.
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