(Reuters) – A hacking team that Ukraine says is managed by Russian intelligence targeted a “western government entity” at the moment in the nation, based mostly on new analysis revealed by Palo Alto Networks on Thursday.

The U.S. and different allies despatched navy advisers and cybersecurity consultants to Ukraine in latest months to assist defend in opposition to Russian forces.

The Palo Alto Networks report doesn’t identify the targeted entity and an organization consultant declined to remark additional.

Palo Alto Networks mentioned it was ready to observe the Russian hacking mission by analyzing a maze of various malicious internet domains designed to infect Ukrainian computer systems with malware.

Russia has amassed greater than 100,000 troops alongside the border with Ukraine, prompting fears of battle. Although denying it plans an invasion, Russia is demanding sweeping safety ensures together with a promise NATO by no means admit Ukraine.

Palo Alto Networks referred to as the hacking group accountable “Gamaredon.”

In November, Ukrainian safety providers publicly attributed Gamaredon to a team of Russian Federal Security Service officers based mostly in Crimea. The Russian Embassy in Washington didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark about Gameredon.

“They were officers of the ‘Crimean’ FSB, as well as traitors who sided with the enemy during the occupation of the peninsula in 2014,” Ukraine’s safety service mentioned in a November information launch, publicizing leaked audio of the hackers.

Also often called Primitive Bear by safety researchers, Gamaredon is among the most “energetic current superior persistent threats focusing on Ukraine,” the report mentioned.

“Given the steps and precision supply concerned in this marketing campaign, it seems this will likely have been a particular, deliberate try” to goal a “Western government group,” a Palo Alto Networks spokesperson mentioned in an announcement.

A NATO spokesperson didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Russia may use cyberattacks as a part of its efforts to destabilize and additional invade Ukraine, White House cyber official Anne Neuberger mentioned on Wednesday, throughout a go to to her European counterparts.

Neuberger’s go to got here simply weeks after a distinct cyberattack in opposition to Ukrainian government web sites left a warning to guests: “be afraid and anticipate the worst.”

(Reporting by Christopher Bing; Editing by Howard Goller)