Red October

[YMix]

A little late to the party, I know.

Diplomatic and government agencies targeted in years-long cyberespionage operation
The attackers used custom malware to target organizations from 39 countries, Kaspersky Lab says
By Lucian Constantin
January 14, 2013 01:51 PM ET

Unidentified attackers stole sensitive information from hundreds of diplomatic, government, research and military organizations from around the world as part of a newly uncovered cyberespionage campaign that started nearly six years ago. The operation involved the use of highly customized and sophisticated data theft malware, researchers from antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab said Monday.

Kaspersky researchers started investigating the ongoing operation, which they dubbed "Red October," in October 2012. However, based on timestamps found in associated malicious files and registration dates for some of the command-and-control domain names, the attack campaign might have started in May 2007, they said Monday in a blog post.

The targeted organizations include embassies, government agencies, military facilities, nuclear and aerospace research institutions, oil and gas companies and other high-profile institutions. Several hundred systems have been infected within the targeted organizations, said Costin Raiu, director of Kaspersky Lab's global research and analysis team.

Many of the affected organizations are located in former USSR states such as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, victims have also been identified in the United States, Brazil, India, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and other countries, with some specific exceptions such as China, Raiu said.

[...]

Also, lol at the BBC people who think that Red October was named after a submarine in a Tom Clancy novel.