Researchers Uncover Cyber Spying Campaign Dubbed 'The Mask'

Reuters, By Jim Finkle and Joe Menn

A computer security software firm has uncovered what it calls the first cyber espionage campaign believed to be started by a Spanish-speaking country, targeting government agencies, energy companies and activists in 31 countries.

Dubbed "The Mask," the campaign had operated undetected since 2007 and infected more than 380 targets before it stopped last week, Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab said on Monday.

The firm declined to identify the government suspected to be behind the cyber spying, but said it had been most active in Morocco, followed by Brazil, the United Kingdom, Franceand Spain.

The suspected involvement of a Spanish-speaking nation is unusual as the most sophisticated cyber spying operations uncovered so far have been linked to the United States, China, Russia and Israel. Those nations have been said to be behind the Duqu, Gauss and Flame malware, for example. Read more.