Russian cyber-espionage group APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, has pioneered a groundbreaking cyberattack method dubbed the “Nearest Neighbor Attack,” enabling the breach of corporate WiFi networks from thousands of miles away.
The attack, first uncovered by cybersecurity firm Volexity, highlights the evolving sophistication of state-backed cyber operations targeting critical organizations.
The attack surfaced on February 4, 2022, when Volexity discovered a server compromise at a client site in Washington, D.C., conducting Ukraine-related work. APT28, tracked by Volexity as “GruesomeLarch,” managed to bypass proximity constraints traditionally required for WiFi attacks.
- Initial Access:
APT28 targeted public-facing services of the victim organization with password-spraying attacks, obtaining credentials for the enterprise WiFi network. However, MFA protections prevented these credentials from being used online. - Creative Pivot:
To overcome physical distance, the hackers compromised a nearby organization within WiFi range of the target. Using dual-home devices—systems connected both via wired and wireless networks—they bridged their connection to the target’s WiFi network. - Lateral Movement and Data Exfiltration:
Once inside the target network, the attackers used Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and native Windows tools to minimize detection. They dumped sensitive data, including Windows registry hives, and compressed it into ZIP archives for exfiltration.
Attribution and Exploited Vulnerabilities
APT28 is linked to Russia’s GRU military unit 26165 and has been active in cyber-espionage since at least 2004. Microsoft later confirmed Volexity’s findings, attributing the attack to APT28 and revealing the likely use of CVE-2022-38028, a zero-day vulnerability in the Windows Print Spooler service, to escalate privileges.
For a detailed analysis of this attack, refer to the full report by Volexity here.
