Baku, Azerbaijan, June 21
By Huseyn Valiyev - Trend:
Azerbaijani banks may come under targeted cyber attacks by one of the most active criminal groups called "Cobalt", the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) at Azerbaijan’s Special Communication and Information Security State Agency of the Special State Security Service told Trend June 21.
Major cyberattacks of the "Cobalt" group were registered in the CIS countries, CERT said.
“No appeals related to the Cobalt group’s attacks have been received so far,” CERT noted. However, perhaps the attacks have already been carried out and the banks are not yet aware. It is clear that if attacks spread in the CIS countries, they will inevitably affect Azerbaijan as well. Therefore, we bring the information to the attention of the financial structures so that they would be more vigilant.”
Hackers of "Cobalt" group use the method of mass sending of phishing emails with malicious content. Emails are sent from fake domains or under the guise of known financial structures and even specific employees.
For example, in late May, "Cobalt" sent a malicious message on behalf of the Central European Bank to various banks. The message contained a link to a malicious Word document, which allegedly described financial risks. When the document was opened, the bank system of a bank was infected.
Participants of the "Cobalt" group still actively attack financial institutions and hundreds of millions of dollars have been withdrawn from banks as a result of the group’s successful attacks.
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