Britain's internet routers under attack from Russian 'cyberspies', experts say

Britain's internet routers under attack from Russian 'cyberspies', experts sayNotorious hackers linked to the Russian state have set their sights on the UK as they target vulnerable internet routers.NewsLucy Thornton News Reporter19:01, 07 Apr 2026View 4 ImagesCyberspies known as APT28 linked to the Russian state have been targeting the UK's vulnerable internet by hijacking legitimate websites(Image: Getty Images)Russian cyberspies are targeting vulnerable internet routers around the UK to harvest ‘intelligence’, it has been revealed‌The notorious hackers, linked to Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, are said to be exploiting a weakness in commonly used internet routers.‌In January GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warned how Russian state-aligned 'hacktivists' had been targeting local government websites.‌And a few weeks ago they told how Messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Messenger and Signal. They said have been seeing "growing malicious activity from Russia-based actors using messaging apps to target high-risk individuals."But now they are warning for around two years these cyber spies have been casting their net even wider, potentially targeting the general public too.View 4 ImagesAPT 28 known as Friendly Bear has been on the hunt for sensitive information(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)‌They believe APT28 has been spreading out, to reach as many potential victims as possible before narrowing in on those with "potential intelligence value" since 2024.APT28 stands for ‘Advanced Persistent Threat’ but they are more commonly known as Fancy Bear, the cyber spies who reportedly hacked the Democratic National Committee (DNC) servers during the 2016 US election campaign.But according to our intelligence agency for several years they have been stealing users' sensitive information in the UK by redirecting internet traffic so hackers can harvest people's email login passwords and other se...