The Mask Malware: A 7-Year Cyber Espionage Campaign Unmasked
Feb 11, 2014
A sophisticated cyber spying operation, The Mask , that has been under the radar for about 7 years and targeted approximately 31 countries, has now been unmasked by researchers at Kaspersky Labs . Researchers believe the campaign has been active since 2007 and is a highly sophisticated nation-state spying tool targeting government agencies, diplomatic offices, embassies, private companies, and activists. In the report published by Kaspersky, over 380 unique victims were identified. The name " Mask " comes from the Spanish slang word "Careto," meaning " Ugly Face " or " Mask ," which was found in several malware modules. Developers of The Mask (aka Careto ) used a complex toolset, including advanced malware, bootkits, and rootkits capable of: Sniffing encryption keys Intercepting VPN configurations, SSH keys, and RDP files Monitoring network traffic, keystrokes, Skype conversations, Wi-Fi traffic Capturing screens and tracking file op...
