Hackers employed by “Western intelligence agencies” sought to breach the cyber defences of Yandex, a prominent Russian search engine and internet company often referred to as “Russia's Google”, Reuters reports citing “four people familiar with the matter”.
According to the news agency, the hackers used a rare type of malware, Regin, “known to be used by the 'Five Eyes' intelligence-sharing alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada”, during the intrusion attempt.
The sources also alleged that the hackers were after “technical information that could explain how Yandex authenticates user accounts“, and that the hack wasn't aimed at damaging or stealing intellectual property.
However, a Yandex representative told Sputnik that the company's IT specialists detected the intrusion attempt in time and successfully neutralised it, and that the hackers were unable to gain access Yandex users' data.
“Ensuring that all our services run smoothly and that our users' data remains secure is our top priority”, the representative added, noting that the company employs all the tools necessary to protect its assets.
They also remarked that Yandex, just like all large internet enterprises, regularly has to deal with all kinds of cyber threats, and the company policy does not sharing all the details of such instances.