''X-Agent'' or ''XAgent'' is a spyware and
malware program designed to collect and transmit hacked files from machines running Windows, Linux, iOS, or Android, to servers operated by hackers. It employs
phishing
Phishing is a type of social engineering where an attacker sends a fraudulent (e.g., spoofed, fake, or otherwise deceptive) message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information to the attacker or to deploy malicious softwar ...
attacks and the program is designed to "hop" from device to device. In 2016,
CrowdStrike
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. is an American cybersecurity technology company based in Austin, Texas. It provides cloud workload and endpoint security, threat intelligence, and cyberattack response services. The company has been involved in inves ...
identified an
Android variant of the malware for the first time, and claimed that the malware targeted members of the Ukrainian military by distributing an infected version of an app to control
D-30 Howitzer
The 122-mm howitzer D-30 (GRAU index 2A18) is a Soviet howitzer that first entered service in 1960. It is a robust piece that focuses on the essential features of a towed field gun suitable for all conditions. The D-30 has a maximum range of 15. ...
artillery.
The
Ukrainian army
The Ukrainian Ground Forces ( uk, Сухопу́тні військá Збрóйних сил Украї́ни), also known as the Ukrainian Army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They w ...
denied CrowdStrike's report and stated that losses of Howitzer artillery pieces had "nothing to do with the stated cause".
Slovak computer security company
ESET obtained the X-Agent source code in 2015 and described its inner workings in a report released in October 2016.
A Washington, DC grand jury indictment (resulting from Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference) charges that agents of the Russian GRU in Moscow "developed, customized and monitored X-Agent malware used to hack the DCCC
emocratic Congressional Campaign Committeeand DNC
emocratic National Committeenetworks beginning in or around April 2016" (item 15, at the end of page 4 and the beginning of page 5).
References
Computer viruses
Spyware
IOS software
Android (operating system)
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