Today, Russian-based Kaspersky Labs unveiled a huge cache of information about a cybercriminal gang they are calling "Equation," and which appears to be tightly connected to the NSA itself.

Kaspersky Labs released a 44-page report on Equation (pdf), which describes the group's suite of malware, used to steal information from industries, corporations, governments, and even some individuals, as the most advanced on the planet.

Indeed, Equation's malware is so successful and so hard to detect, that Kaspersky believes they've been in existence since 2001, or possibly as far back as 1996, and they are only now getting a glimpse into their existence.

Equation's suite is said to be extremely modular, with initial Trojans being installed simply to see if the targeted computer's user might be of interest, and if so depositing payloads of highly advanced software into the operation system, which is almost impossible to detect.