FBI agents have been allowed the much-debated possibility of catching hackers by accessing breached networks and blocking the attackers in the middle of the hack.
After thousands of private Microsoft Exchange email servers were compromised by state-backed Chinese hackers, an FBI special agent requested a Houston federal judge for authorization to block the attackers’ digital points of entry by remotely accessing hundreds of hacking victims’ computer networks.
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The FBI operation was only a part of a more aggressive approach that has been under wraps for long and has drawn attention only at a time when curbing cyber attacks has come to be seen as a national priority.
Cybersecurity has gained importance after the takedown of the infamous VPNFilter hacking operation. VPNFilter was among the first cases where the FBI and Department of Justice used legal tools to identify and block Russian hackers.