Officials once again warn defenders that Russian hackers are targeting network devices

A multinational advisory warns that Russian FSB Center 16 (aka Berserk Bear, Energetic Bear, Crouching Yeti, et al.) is actively compromising critical infrastructure worldwide by exploiting poorly configured routers, weak/default credentials, and Cisco device vulnerabilities (notably CVE-2008-4128 and CVE-2018-0171, and abuse of Cisco Smart Install). The group has targeted multiple sectors — including energy, defense, communications, finance, and healthcare — and has been linked to a December 2025 attack on Poland's energy grid; authorities recommend disabling Smart Install, strengthening authentication, and monitoring for unusual logins.