A new cyber scandal in the US. This time it's a virus called Hive. According to WikiLeaks, it was created by the CIA, but disguised as Kaspersky Anti-Virus, so that the two look just the same. Hive is a platform for managing a wide range of malicious software. It can be planted on any computer. The blame was put on a Russian developer, though, as he declared, he had nothing to do with the hack. Kaspersky Lab has already had a similar experience when the US called it a threat to the national security. My colleague Valentin Bogdanov has more on the topic.
The CIA conducts operations in cyberspace under a foreign flag using a special code called Hive. Even if the data owner suddenly stumbles upon harmful virtual bees in his system, they will pretend to be something else.
WikiLeaks exposed the American intelligence as creators of the Hive. Hive provides a covert communications platform for a whole range of CIA malware that send information to CIA servers and receive new instructions from operators. The CIA uses regular commercial servers to ensure a failsafe alibi during communications. So if anyone suddenly realizes that the information is leaking and raises an alarm, he will get a reassuring response from the provider.
Meanwhile, the data, stolen by the Hive, flows into the Honeycomb which is the name of the server used by the CIA. The CIA forges authentication certificates for infected computers to make them pose as existing companies, for example, the ones from Russia. Basically, it's like planting a wallet and then be the first one to cry theft pointing at an innocent person.
This is exactly what the US government did in the middle of July by taking Kaspersky Lab off the list of software suppliers for the US government agencies. They claimed that the Russian company plants spyware in its anti-viruses.
Eugene Kaspersky: "We've investigated the Vault 8 report and confirm the certificates in our name are fake. Our customers, private keys and services are unaffected."
But the company loses money. The schemes of the US intelligence resulted in financial losses for the Laboratory. Three large American retail chains that sell electronic equipment and office supplies decided to keep up with the officials and took the Russian anti-virus off their shelves.
To dispel suspicions, Kaspersky Lab even promised to disclose the source code of their software to the US authorities. Taking into account the latest information from WikiLeaks those in Washington who still have doubts, instead of taking it up with an office in Moscow, should go to the CIA headquarters in Langley.
Valentin Bogdanov and Ivan Utkin Vesti, USA
