Can you imagine a cyberattack so cunning that it hops between Wi-Fi networks like stepping stones, infiltrating organizations thousands of miles apart, all without the attacker leaving their seat? This is not science fiction; it is the reality of the “Nearest Neighbor” attack, a novel tactic uncovered by researchers at Volexity. Deployed by Fancy Bear (APT28), a well-known cyber-espionage organization from Russia, this clever technique was first seen during the terribly chaotic early days of Russia and Ukraine’s war.
By exploiting nearby Wi-Fi networks, Fancy Bear bypassed geographic barriers and traditional defenses to breach a U.S. organization with ties to Ukrainian projects. With this new type of sneak attack, many will be asking the question, how safe is your network against the distant adversary?
Fancy Bear targeted a U.S. organization thousands of miles away by first compromising nearby Wi-Fi networks. They chained attacks across multiple organizations in proximity to their ultimate target. Imagine a hacker sneaking into a house by jumping through fences through several neighboring yards rather than breaking the front door. This is essentially how Fancy Bear moved laterally through interconnected networks.
The attackers exploited weakly protected Wi-Fi networks, bypassing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) by connecting directly to enterprise Wi-Fi using stolen credentials. They employed legitimate tools like Windows’ Cipher.exe to avoid detection while stealing sensitive information, especially from those working on Ukraine-related projects.
The amazing thing is how close such an attack comes to underscoring the need to secure Wi-Fi networks as rigorously as VPNs. An example would be an open Wi-Fi network at a cafe. A hacker would log on to the open network and, with you sitting on your own laptop on the same network, he could intercept all your data. Now, just imagine this kind of flaw in corporate networks that handle very sensitive information.
Organizations can defend against such threats by segregating Wi-Fi and Ethernet networks, enforcing MFA for Wi-Fi access, and monitoring unusual activities like the use of tools such as Cipher.exe. Strengthening Wi-Fi security and improving detection can help block clever hackers like Fancy Bear and keep networks safe from even the most determined attackers.
