The FBI announced Thursday it successfully disrupted a Russian GRU-led hacking campaign that infiltrated more than a thousand home and small business routers that were used to carry out cyber operations against countries around the world, including in the U.S.
The department said it identified a specific malware that the GRU relied on to infiltrate the routers -- dubbed "Moobot" -- that had been installed on the routers and that the GRU used to turn it into a "global cyber espionage platform."STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images In a court-authorized operation last month, the Justice Department said it used the malware to copy and delete the malicious data from the routers and give victims back full control of their networks.
FBI Director Christopher Wray first announced news of the disruption campaign, dubbed "Operation Dying Ember," in remarks at the Munich Security Conference on Thursday.