In a new intelligence report on threats was released this week by Microsoft, which claims to have detected resumed activity, in the form of Internet of Things (IoT) device compromise, from Russian hacking group Fancy Bear.
The group, alternatively known by its STRONTIU or APT28 designations and thought to be an arm of Russian state intelligence, was found to have taken control of networked appliances such as printers as a way of pivoting deeper into the network. Once inside, the attackers would then find vulnerable, secluded portions of it to establish persistence and, finally, phone home to command and control servers. According to Microsoft’s findings, the attackers primarily targeted critical government or civic infrastructure including political, defense, medical, and engineering networks.
It is not clear whether the organizations whose networks were breached were the ultimate intended targets, or simply cover for hiding resources for later use. If the attribution to Fancy Bear is accurate, these reported intrusions would constitute the latest in a long string of attack from the group that depends heavily on IoT compromise.
Fancy Bear is most famous for infiltrating the network of the Democratic National Committee in 2016, but their oeuvre is otherwise largely based on breaking into routers and other small network appliances. In 2017, the group turned its attention to hotel networks, which they seized control of by exploiting network equipment. The group followed that up with the VPNFilter attack last year, which also took over routers.
This recent pattern from Fancy Bear brings an evolving picture of the Russian state-sponsored hackers into sharper resolution. Whereas the group formerly appeared content to break into specific kinds of networks simply to monitor them, Fancy Bear’s attack on hotel Wi-Fi positioned them to spy on guests of those hotels. The IoT compromise that Microsoft detailed fits a new pattern of conducting reconnaissance on networks they breach and following up with corresponding next steps.
The fact that Fancy Bear’s predisposition toward IoT has not changed should come as no surprise, as the perennially weak security of this class of devices provides ample attack surface. It is for this reason that some of the biggest DDoS attacks to date have been executed by enormous global botnets of IoT devices, such as the Mirai botnet.
Did you think hitting delete on your AI chatbot conversation actually makes it disappear? Georgia Tech researchers just proved that's not entirely true. They have built a forensic tool called ORISA that can dig deleted conversations from your phone and even rebuild them into a working chatbot session you can keep talking to.
How can ORISA bring deleted AI conversations back?
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Two residents of Chicago have filed a lawsuit in the US over claims that robots run by Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics captured their facial and hand measurements without consent, bringing renewed attention to the food delivery robots. The cases raise a troubling question: If a robot delivers food to your door, can it also be gathering sensitive information about you?
According to a report by The Associated Press, the proposed class-action lawsuits were filed in Cook County on Oct. 9 and allege violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. The complaints claim that the robots’ cameras and LiDAR sensors captured information on customers’ faces and hands as they approached the machines to pick up their orders. Both have denied the allegations.