The head of the Czech counterintelligence service says a Russian espionage network that his agency dismantled last year was meant to be used for cyberattacks against the Czech Republic and its foreign allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michal Koudelka told a security conference in the lower house of \nparliament on October 21 that the Security Information Service (BIS) \ncooperated with the police’s organized-crime unit to completely paralyze\n the network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The network was completely dismantled and destroyed,” Koudelka said, according to Czech news agency CTK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The network was formed to carry out hacking attacks on targets in the Czech Republic and its partner states, Koudelka said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), supported by the Russian Embassy in Prague, is suspected of being the mastermind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It was created by people with links to Russian intelligence services\n and financed from Russia and the Russian Embassy,” Koudelka said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Koudelka first mentioned the BIS actions against the network last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Koudelka also pointed to the Russian and Chinese spy services as the biggest threats to his country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Czech intelligence agency NUKIB said last month that Russia and China posed the biggest threat to cybersecurity in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It added that China was behind a major cyberattack on a key government institution in the Czech Republic last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n