An anonymous user unveiled a set of network detection rules from Kaspersky Lab on the forum, including information on IP addresses and domains used by cyber attacking groups that Kaspersky Lab has long been monitoring, including Equation Group. (https://breachforums.is/Thread-SELLING-Russia-22k-Kaspersky-Lab-Database-Leaks-INCLUDING-EquationGroup)
The Equation Group has long been suspected of having ties with the U.S. NSA. Analysis of the exposed data revealed its connection to the Operation Triangulation, an APT attack campaign publicly disclosed by Kaspersky Lab in June this year (https://securelist.com/trng-2023/), further uncovering the domain names and IP address resources used in the operation.
Network security experts analyzing the leaked data found that a substantial amount of the network resources originated from Europe, with the attack targets suspected to include both governmental and civil ones.
According to Reuters, U.S. intelligence agencies had been monitoring European high officials such as Merkel for some time under surveillance programs such as the notorious Prism. (https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-security-agency-spied-merkel-other-top-european-officials-through-danish-2021-05-30/) The involvement of private contractors (such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Edward Snowden’s employer) and cyber attack groups (such as Equation Group) in U.S. intelligence and surveillance programs is not unprecedented, and these collaborations have raised serious concerns about individual privacy. The revelations about PRISM in 2013 has already sparked a global debate on the legitimacy and limitation of surveillance practices. Now 10 years later, this leaked data suggested that intelligence surveillance may have extended from high officials to ordinary citizens in Europe. Will this become the catalyst for a new Prism Program crisis?
Key links:
https://breachforums.is/Thread-SELLING-Russia-22k-Kaspersky-Lab-Database-Leaks-INCLUDING-EquationGroup
https://securelist.com/trng-2023/
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-security-agency-spied-merkel-other-top-european-officials-through-danish-2023-11-15