• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Hunters International ransomware gang shuts down and offers free decryption keys to all victims

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 52

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 531 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

North Korea-linked threat actors spread macOS NimDoor malware via fake Zoom updates

 | 

Critical Sudo bugs expose major Linux distros to local Root exploits

 | 

Google fined $314M for misusing idle Android users' data

 | 

A flaw in Catwatchful spyware exposed logins of +62,000 users

 | 

China-linked group Houken hit French organizations using zero-days

 | 

Cybercriminals Target Brazil: 248,725 Exposed in CIEE One Data Breach

 | 

Europol shuts down Archetyp Market, longest-running dark web drug marketplace

 | 

Kelly Benefits data breach has impacted 550,000 people, and the situation continues to worsen as the investigation progresses

 | 

Cisco removed the backdoor account from its Unified Communications Manager

 | 

U.S. Sanctions Russia's Aeza Group for aiding crooks with bulletproof hosting

 | 

Qantas confirms customer data breach amid Scattered Spider attacks

 | 

CVE-2025-6554 is the fourth Chrome zero-day patched by Google in 2025

 | 

U.S. CISA adds TeleMessage TM SGNL flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

A sophisticated cyberattack hit the International Criminal Court

 | 

Esse Health data breach impacted 263,000 individuals

 | 

Europol dismantles €460M crypto scam targeting 5,000 victims worldwide

 | 

CISA and U.S. Agencies warn of ongoing Iranian cyber threats to critical infrastructure

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Hacking
  • Intelligence
  • Malware
  • Security
  • Belgacom hack, state-sponsored attack hypothesis

Belgacom hack, state-sponsored attack hypothesis

Pierluigi Paganini September 17, 2013

Belgacom hack, the telecommunications company found evidence of digital intrusion in the company systems, many experts believe in a state-sponsored attack.

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.

To sanitize the infected servers Belgacom cleans up the entire system, at the moment there is no information regarding the impact of the attack in term of information disclosed and services compromised.  The security experts involved in the investigation are inclined to believe that the Belgacom hack, in reality, has been caused by a state-sponsored attack due to the complexity of the malicious code used.
Following the official announcement issued by Belgacom after the incident:

“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. “

The first speculations on the Belgacom hack indicate the US and British intelligence agencies, NSA and GCHQ, as authors of the attack.  The reason is due to the fact that the company Belgacom handles some of the undersea cables used for communications, voice and data, and so would be a likely target for an attacker. In particular the tampered
belgacom hack 2
Sources of intelligence refer that the attackers might be interested in spying on communications coming from critical areas such as Syria and Yemen.
The company has filed a complaint against an unknown third party and is sustaining the investigation of the Federal Prosecutor, following a couple on interesting observations made by the French security expert Marc Blanchard (BitDefender), aka “Virus Doctor”:

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.

If it was confirmed that Belgacom hack is a state-sponsored attack, hardly get to know the real authors
[adrotate banner=”9″] [adrotate banner=”12″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Belgacom hack, hacking)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

Belgacom cyber espionage Hacking malware state-sponsored attack

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 06, 2025
Hunters International ransomware gang shuts down and offers free decryption keys to all victims
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 06, 2025
SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 52
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Hunters International ransomware gang shuts down and offers free decryption keys to all victims

    Cyber Crime / July 06, 2025

    SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 52

    Security / July 06, 2025

    Security Affairs newsletter Round 531 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

    Breaking News / July 06, 2025

    North Korea-linked threat actors spread macOS NimDoor malware via fake Zoom updates

    Malware / July 05, 2025

    Critical Sudo bugs expose major Linux distros to local Root exploits

    Security / July 04, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT