The United States announced on Tuesday that it had neutralized a computer spy program (spyware) called “Snake” that Russian intelligence services have repeatedly used against some NATO member states over the past 20 years, AFP reported. News.ro.

Operation Medusa disabled that software, which allowed Russia’s FSB security services to “steal hundreds of sensitive documents in at least 50 countries” by attacking government or media IT services, the US Department of Defense said in a statement. Justice.

“Thanks to a high-tech operation that targeted this Russian malware, US law enforcement officers neutralized one of Russia’s most sophisticated cyber espionage tools,” said US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

According to US authorities, this spyware was operated by an FSB unit called Turla, located in Reazan, in central Russia.

He could identify and steal documents and remain undetected indefinitely.

Agents of “Turla” extracted this data using a worldwide network of infected computers.

The United States Federal Police (FBI), after years of studying this software, managed to create a tool called “Perseus” capable of communicating with the “Snake” and telling it to “shut down” without involving the host computer.

In 2016, German authorities found themselves the target of an unprecedented attack that the press attributed to the software “Snake”, also known as “Uruburos” or “Turla”.

Victims of this spyware have been found in Belgium, Ukraine, USA and Georgia.