August 2025

The FBI issued a warning Aug. 20 that the Russian Federal Security Service’s (FSB) Center 16 has exploited a vulnerability in Cisco Smart Install and for the past year has been targeting critical infrastructure sectors in the U.S. and worldwide.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stated it identified a sophisticated cyber espionage operation targeting critical infrastructure of U.S. and global entities through exploitation of Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and end-of-life (EOL) networking devices running an unpatched flaw in Cisco Smart Install (SMI).

The FBI and Cisco Talos have issued fresh warnings about a Russian cyber espionage campaign that has quietly compromised network devices around the world. The threat actor, tracked as Static Tundra, is linked to the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) Center 16 unit and has been active for more than a decade.