14 DAY TRIAL // Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor is the latest major organization to report being hit by a sophisticated cyberattack.
According to Views and News from Norway, cybercriminals might have stolen impressive quantities of information from the personal computers of Telenor executives.
The company’s representatives report that the breach has been detected quickly and additional steps have been taken to prevent future incidents. However, since the effects of the breach could be serious, the organization has filed a report with the police.
The incident started with cleverly crafted emails sent out to the firm’s executives. The messages appeared to come from trusted contacts, including individuals from within the company.
The files attached to these emails hid sophisticated pieces of malware that weren’t detected by security solutions.
Once the Trojans were downloaded onto computers, they started harvesting emails, passwords, various types of files, and personal data.
“It’s completely clear that those behind (the attack) were able to download information. There’s no doubt we have lost data,” Rune Dyrlie, security director for Telenor, told Aftenposten.
It’s uncertain what the attackers are after, but Dyrlie highlights the fact that cybercriminals often copy large quantities of data in an effort to disguise what they really want.
The attacks were discovered when the company’s monitoring systems raised some red flags about abnormal traffic between the computers of Telenor executives and unknown IP addresses associated with devices from various countries.
For the time being, Telenor representatives have not named any suspects. However, Dyrlie says the culprits appear to have “massive resources and a lot of competence.”
Earlier this month, Norwegian officials revealed that at least 20 sophisticated cyberattacks, apparently originating from China, were launched against high-profile organizations.