Through “Operation Medusa,” U.S. officials disabled software that allowed the Russian secret service FSB to steal “hundreds of sensitive documents from at least 50 countries” by attacking government and media computer services, the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

“Thanks to a high-tech operation that turned this Russian malware against itself, the FBI has neutralized one of Russia’s most sophisticated cyber espionage tools,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

According to US officials, a division of the FSP was behind the software. Known as ‘Turla’, the infamous hacking group is based in the city of Ryazan in European Russia, about 200 km southeast of Moscow. The group has been operating against various NATO-aligned targets, US government agencies and technology companies for two decades, a senior FBI official said.

All Dutch people’s personal data may have fallen into the hands of hackers (video):

The software can identify and steal documents and remain undetected indefinitely. The Russians were able to exfiltrate data (unauthorized data release from a computer system, ed.) through a global network of infected computers.

Years later, US officials succeeded in developing a tool called Perseus that could communicate with the snake and instruct it to shut down the software without involving the central computer.

Russian diplomats did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters and AP news agencies. Moscow continues to deny conducting cyber espionage operations.

In 2018, German authorities announced that they had been the target of an unprecedented attack by ‘Snake’ software. The software also reportedly hit Belgium, Ukraine, the United States and Georgia.

As they did in Moscow last year, hackers are messing things up in Russia (video):