Russian Hackers Use Zero-Days to Try to Get Sanctions Data

Hackers linked to the Russian government used previously unknown flaws in Microsoft Corp.’s Windows and Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash to try to infiltrate discussions on sanctions policy, a person familiar with the attack said.

The spying scheme was detected on April 13 by U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc. and targeted an agency of an overseas government that was in discussions with the U.S. about sanctions policy. The attack was halted before the group extracted any data, the company said in a blog post Saturday.