The National Cyber Security Council was part of the international cohort of cybersecurity organisations that discovered Snake – a Russian cyber-spying tool, in more than 50 countries across the globe.

Among the NCSC, the cooperative network included the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF), Canadian Cyber Security Centre (CCCS), United Kingdom National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-UK), Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), and New Zealand National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-NZ).

These intelligence agencies have now designated the Snake tool to a known unit within Centre 16 of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

The espionage tool, Snake, has been used for years to gather intelligence on advisaries, according to the NSA Director of Cybersecurity, Rob Joyce.

“Snake infrastructure has spread around the world. The technical details will help many organizations find and shut down the malware globally,” he said.

Cyber threat actors have used Snake to infiltrate and access sensitive international relations documents, as well as other diplomatic communications.

According to the joint press release provided by the NSA and its partners, this was accessed via a victim in an undisclosed North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) country.

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Snake malware has now been found on every populated continent, including North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

The coalition found that in the US, the FSB used Snake to target various industries including education, small businesses, media organisations, and critical infrastructure sectors such as government, manufacturing, financial, and communications facilities.