US sanctions Russian govt institution tied to Malware

Washington, Oct 24 : The US has imposed new sanctions on a Russian government research institution that is connected to a malware “designed specifically to target and manipulate industrial safety systems”.
In a statement on Friday, the Treasury Department said its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the State Research Center of the Russian Federation FGUP Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (TsNIIKhM) “for building customized tools that enabled the attack”.
According to the statement, TsNIIKhM had supported an August 2017 cyber-attack involving the Triton malware, also known also as TRISIS and HatMan in open source reporting, on a petrochemical facility in the Middle East.
“Such systems provide for the safe emergency shutdown of industrial processes at critical infrastructure facilities in order to protect human life.
The cyber actors behind the Triton malware have been referred to by the private cybersecurity industry as ‘the most dangerous threat activity publicly known’,” the Department said in the statement.
The Treasury also claimed that in recent years, the Triton malware has been deployed against US partners in the Middle East, and the hackers behind the malware have been reportedly scanning and probing American facilities.