Red October, a malware program designed to steal secrets from government and research organizations (including data on mobile devices), was discovered in October 2012 by Russian firm Kaspersky Lab. It was believed to have been operating worldwide for at least five years prior to discovery, stealing a wide range of information, including secrets from diplomatic, trade, military, aerospace, energy and research organizations in Russia, Iran, the U.S. and at least 36 other countries.
The Red October attacks were designed to target multiple platforms, including routers, switches, mobile phones and external storage devices, and adapt their actions to different software environments. Among other things, the malware targeted files associated with cryptographic systems, including systems used by NATO, European Union, European Parliament and European Commission departments.