New MiniDuke cyber attack targets government sites, including Romania

A new wave of cyber attacks has targeted several European countries, including Romania, according to the local subsidiary of Russian anti-virus software company Kaspersky. The malware was designed to collect confidential information from government websites and used a PDF format to send the virus, according to Kaspersky Lab Romania.

The new malicious program, called MiniDuke, is «highly specialized» and was used to attack governments and institutions around the world last week, according to Kaspersky Romania. Kaspersky Lab investigations found that MiniDuke had compromised government agencies in Ukraine, Belgium, Portugal, Czech Republic and Ireland, as well as Romania. An unnamed research institute, two think-tanks and a healthcare provider in the US and a «well-known research institute» in Hungary were reportedly also compromised.

Founder and President of Kaspersky Labs Eugene Kaspersky described the attack as «very unusual» and said the virus was similar to some used in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Reports suggest that the malware looks very credible and mimics a PDF presentation on human rights.

Founded 15 years ago by Eugene Kaspersky, software company Kaspersky is now one of the biggest global producers of IT security solutions. The company sells security systems computers offering protection against viruses, spyware, crimeware, hackers, phishing and spam. The company operates in around 200 countries and has over 300 million users worldwide.

Adapted from Romania-insider