A report claims that a group of Russian hackers, intending to spy on NATO and the Ukrainian government, exploited a flaw in Microsoft's Windows operating system.
According to FOX News and as reported by the Washington Post, research by the cybersecurity firm iSight Partners shows that the hacking ring, dubbed SandWorm, has been active since at least 2009 and is probably working for the Moscow government.
The vulnerability was discovered by ISight past this August after it started keeping a close watch on the group's activity since last year.
The report said that the hackers targeted the Ukrainian government around the time of the recent NATO summit in Wales, where discussions on Russia's alliance with separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine were of prime focus.
iSight Senior Director Stephen Ward said that the vulnerability appeared in every version of Windows from Vista to 8.1, barring Windows XP.
It is reported that the company is working on an automatic software update to fix affected versions of Windows.
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