State-sponsored hackers targeting defence sector employees, Google says

"The report catalogues a relentless barrage of cyber operations, most by state-sponsored groups, against EU and US industrial supply chains. It suggests the range of targets for these hackers has grown to encompass the broader industrial base of the US and Europe from German aerospace firms to UK carmakers. State-linked hackers have long targeted the global defence industry, but Luke McNamara, an analyst for Google's threat intelligence group, said they had seen more personalised and direct to individual targeting of employees."

"It's harder to detect these threats when it's happening on an employee's personal system, right? It's outside a corporate network, he said. The whole personnel piece has become one of the major themes. Google had also noticed more extortion attacks targeting smaller players not directly in the defence supply chain, he said, such as companies making cars or ball bearings."

State-sponsored groups have carried out relentless cyber operations against EU and US industrial supply chains, expanding targets across the industrial base from aerospace firms to carmakers. Attackers increasingly target individual employees and hiring processes, often via personal devices outside corporate networks, making detection harder. Smaller manufacturers and suppliers face extortion and spoofing of defence contractors' websites. Russian-linked actors have spoofed hundreds of defence contractors' sites and developed hacks to compromise Signal and Telegram accounts of Ukrainian military personnel, journalists and officials. Extremely targeted impersonation operations have been used against Ukrainian frontline drone units via fake builders and training courses.

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