Russia hacked Pakistani spies who were spying on India and Afghanistan

Black Lotus Labs, the cybersecurity center of Lumen Technologies, published a study on December 4, 2024, about a hacking operation conducted by Russia against Pakistani spies. A cyber unit of the Russian intelligence agency, Turla, also known as “Secret Blizzard,” used this operation to steal sensitive data on India and Afghanistan.

The cybercriminal group Storm-0156, affiliated with Pakistani intelligence, had previously installed surveillance tools in Indian and Afghan administrations. The hackers had used products from the cybersecurity company Hak5 for this purpose.

Turla detected this intrusion and infiltrated Storm-0156’s surveillance network for nearly two years. The Russian group was thus able to install its own espionage software, targeting critical IT systems and networks, first in Afghanistan and then in India.