Description

A sophisticated cyberattack, attributed to the Russian state-sponsored group APT28 (Fancy Bear), exploited a U.S. company's enterprise Wi-Fi network from a significant distance. The breach, first identified on February 4, 2022, by cybersecurity firm Volexity, targeted a Washington, DC-based organization involved in projects related to Ukraine. The attackers, linked to Russia’s GRU military intelligence, initially accessed the network through password-spraying attacks on an external service, successfully obtaining Wi-Fi credentials. Although multi-factor authentication (MFA) prevented direct internet-based access, the hackers bypassed it by focusing on nearby organizations within the Wi-Fi signal range. They compromised a neighboring company's network and exploited dual-connected devices, such as laptops and routers, that acted as bridges to the target network. Once inside, APT28 used remote desktop protocol (RDP) to move laterally, gathering data through native Windows tools and extracting information by dumping registry hives. Early attribution was difficult, but a Microsoft investigation in April 2023 confirmed APT28's involvement. The group likely leveraged the CVE-2022-38028 vulnerability in the Windows Print Spooler service, possibly using a zero-day exploit to escalate privileges. This incident underscores the increasing complexity of cyber threats, particularly proximity-based attacks launched remotely. To counter such risks, organizations must apply robust security measures to their Wi-Fi networks, treating them with the same vigilance as internet-facing services.