Pierluigi Paganini
September 17, 2013
Belgacom hack, the largest telecommunications company in Belgium and primarily state-owned, has announced that its IT infrastructure has suffered a cyber attack malware based. The attackers hacked company IT systems and infected with unknown Malware. According first information divulged on the Belgacom hack a few dozen machines on the company’s network were compromised, including some servers. The concerning news is that the intrusion had been active for as long as two months by the time the Belgian company discovered it.
“Previous security checks by Belgacom experts revealed traces of a digital intrusion in the company ’s internal IT system. Belgacom has taken all appropriate actions to protect the integrity of its IT system and to further reinforce the prevention against possible incidents.
For Belgacom, the protection of the customers and their data is a key priority. At this stage, there is no indication of any impact on the customers or their data. At no point in time has the delivery of our telecommunication services been compromised. “
It is an operation of computer commando? Yes, it is not in the field of “rotten codes” used by Anonymous to cause a denial of service (DDOS) and block a website. It is generally more difficult to detect more complex systems, which are actually “siphon” strategic information in companies. A technique used by hackers? Yes, it is more difficult to detect than asking users to bring their own equipment to the office in the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) very popular in business. The attack systems used are also very sophisticated: they reproduce and evolve adaptations to avoid defense systems. We speak here of “advanced persistent attacks.” Belgacom, it claims to have spotted the attack in mid-July and will be eradicated only recently. This is an important time? It does not surprise me. Here we are in the case of a complex attack that requires both skills, tools, and strategies to master. In some cases, taking into account a number of important positions with thousands of machines, servers, PCs, smartphones, work can take up to six months. The newspaper “De Standaard” that revealed this case evokes a listening operation by the NSA. It is credible? If this is the NSA, we will never know. They are too strong. More seriously, the right question is who has an interest in actually spying Belgacom or discredit its reliability.
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(Security Affairs – Belgacom hack, hacking)
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