Daily Archives: October 15, 2014

DALLAS, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- A Russian group of hackers exploited a flaw in a computer operating system to spy on NATO and other security targets, a report says.

The Dallas based cybersecurity firm that uncovered the plot, iSight Partners, said a previously undiscovered flaw in Microsoft's Windows system allowed sensitive documents pertaining to the NATO summit held in Wales in September to be targeted.

ISight dubbed the hacking group the Sandworm Team, the Washington Post reported. It was presumably working for the Russian government and has been active since at least 2009, the report said, adding that a Polish energy firm, the Ukrainian government's computers and at least one nation in Western Europe were also targeted.

The flaw, known as zero-day for the amount of time programmers are aware of it, likely allowed hackers to find e-mails, Power Point presentations and encryption keys in computers considered secure.

Although policy statements were released after the NATO summit, much of the planning occurred in secret. The agenda included preparing a unified response to Russia's influence in Crimea and Ukraine, and plans for confronting the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

U.S. President Barack Obama attended the meeting, as did Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and high-level military and civilian leaders from each NATO country.

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Report: Russian hackers spied on NATO

Published October 15, 2014

THESSALONIKI, Greece NATO's top military commander says the alliance would welcome the withdrawal of Russian troops from a Russian region bordering Ukraine, but that it has seen no "major movement" so far.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told The Associated Press in Thessaloniki Wednesday that a withdrawal of all Russian troops was an "important part of bringing normalcy" to the area.

On Saturday Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered about 17,600 Russian troops to return to their bases from Rostov. The region in Russia borders east Ukraine, where pro-Russian insurgents have been battling government troops since April.

The Kremlin has said troops stationed there were participating in drills, but Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of fueling the insurgency with arms, expertise and fighters.

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NATO chief: alliance seen no 'major movement' of Russian troop withdrawal from Ukraine border

Islamabad, Oct 15 (IANS): NATO gunship helicopters violated Pakistani airspace by entering territory near its border with Afghanistan, media reported Wednesday.

According to officials, at least five helicopters were seen flying near the border and two of them entered Pakistani territory in Torkham and Pasidkhel, Dawn online reported.

The helicopters remained in Pakistani airspace for 10 minutes and returned without any action.

Sources said the helicopters crossed over through Shamshad mountains situated between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

A few days back, NATO had carried out a massive assault on Taliban positions in the Shamshad mountains and had killed scores of Afghan Taliban members.

Pakistan is yet to respond to the violation and it has not yet been ascertained whether the incursion was deliberate or a slipping over of the helicopters into Pakistani airspace during routine patrolling on account of the rugged mountainous terrain.

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NATO helicopters violate Pakistani airspace