Operation Shady RAT
Encyclopedia
Operation Shady RAT is an ongoing series of cyber attacks starting in mid-2006 reported by Dmitri Alperovitch, Vice President of Threat Research at Internet security company McAfee
in August 2011, who also led and named the Night Dragon and Operation Aurora
cyberespionage intrusion investigations. The attacks have hit at least 72 organizations, including defense contractors, businesses worldwide, the United Nations
and the International Olympic Committee
.
The operation, named by Alperovitch as a derivation of the common computer security industry acronym for Remote Access Tool, is characterized by McAfee as "a five year targeted operation by one specific actor". The report suggests that the targeting of various athletic oversight organizations around the time of the 2008 Summer Olympics
"potentially pointed a finger at a state actor behind the intrusions". That state actor is widely assumed to be the People's Republic of China
.
McAfee
McAfee, Inc. is a computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. It markets software and services to home users, businesses and the public sector. On August 19, 2010, electronics company Intel agreed to purchase McAfee for $7.68 billion...
in August 2011, who also led and named the Night Dragon and Operation Aurora
Operation Aurora
Operation Aurora was a cyber attack which began in mid-2009 and continued through December 2009. The attack was first publicly disclosed by Google on January 12, 2010, in a blog post. In the blog post, Google said the attack originated in China...
cyberespionage intrusion investigations. The attacks have hit at least 72 organizations, including defense contractors, businesses worldwide, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
.
The operation, named by Alperovitch as a derivation of the common computer security industry acronym for Remote Access Tool, is characterized by McAfee as "a five year targeted operation by one specific actor". The report suggests that the targeting of various athletic oversight organizations around the time of the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
"potentially pointed a finger at a state actor behind the intrusions". That state actor is widely assumed to be the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
External Links
- Shady RAT Checker - An online free tool to check if your IP address is found on the Shady RAT Command & Control server.