Microsoft, one of the largest technology companies in the world, is taking measures to thwart the efforts of Fancy Bear, a hacking collective operated by Russia's military intelligence service, the company has disclosed. After obtaining a court order, Microsoft seized seven domains it suspects of targeting Ukrainian media outlets, foreign policy think tanks, and government institutions in the United States and European Union. The company hopes its actions help neutralize Fancy Bear (aka APT28 or Strontium) and its attacks on Ukraine and its allies.
The Russia-Ukraine war is the first major global conflict of the cyber era, and Microsoft is doing its part to combat Russian cyberattacks. The tech giant re-directed the domains into a “sinkhole” under its control to mitigate the cyber espionage group’s attacks. But Microsoft isn’t alone – Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook, has revealed its own actions to combat adversarial networks from Azerbaijan and Iran, removing malicious accounts and blocking their domains. Meta also claims that it disrupted attacks by the Belarusian-aligned Ghostwriter hacker group targeting the profiles of Ukrainian military members.
