Amazon and Google’s threat intelligence teams have released a joint report detailing a decade-long operation by Russia’s GRU. The campaign exploited misconfigured “parked domains” and edge network devices to intercept traffic and conduct global espionage against Western critical infrastructure.
Business Impact
This reveals that the network perimeter is not just being bypassed, but effectively “owned” by nation-state actors. For businesses, this means their outward-facing infrastructure is being used as a platform for state-level surveillance and potential future disruption of utility and defense systems.
Why It Happened
The GRU capitalized on the “security vacuum” of unmanaged edge devices and parked domains, which are often overlooked in standard audits. Over 90% of these domains were found to be delivering malware or acting as command-and-control (C2) nodes.
Recommended Executive Action
Review your organization’s domain portfolio and decommission any unused or “parked” domains. Ensure all network edge devices (routers, firewalls) are part of a strict centralized management and patching program.
Hashtags: #GRU #Russia #Espionage #EdgeSecurity #Infrastructure #CyberWarfare #Amazon #Google #InfoSec