Charlie Osborne reports:
Cybercriminals are hijacking the devices of civil rights activists and planting “incriminating evidence” in covert cyberattacks, researchers warn.
According to SentinelLabs, an advanced persistent threat (APT) group dubbed ModifiedElephant has been responsible for widespread attacks targeting human rights activists and defenders, academics, journalists, and lawyers across India.
The APT is thought to have been in operation since at least 2012, and over the past decade, ModifiedElephant has continually and persistently targeted specific, high-profile people of interest.
However, rather than focusing on data theft, the APT’s activities are far more sinister: once inside a victim’s machine, the group conducts surveillance and may plant incriminating files later used to prosecute individuals.
Read more at ZDNet.
“Dirty tricks” have pretty much always been a part of politics but this is on the level where the targets may wind up prosecuted or tortured. It is really no surprise that this is happening, though. And it’s another reason for people to be concerned about securing devices and not opening files or clicking on links.