Category Archives: Chinese Hackers

U.S. indicts China-linked group over wide-ranging hacking operations

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The Justice Department on Thursday unsealed charges against two hackers linked with China’s civilian intelligence agency for a lengthy campaign to break into global technology service providers in efforts to steal intellectual property. The campaign targeted more than 45 companies in a dozen countries, including sectors ranging from aviation to pharmaceuticals, along with U.S. Navy, a Department of Energy laboratory, and NASA, prosecutors alleged. The defendants also stole the Social Security numbers and other personal information of over 100,000 Navy personnel, U.S. officials said. “The list of victim companies reads like a who’s who of the global economy,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said while announcing the charges. Other companies targeted included those in manufacturing, oil and gas, and maritime technology, U.S officials said. The pair of hackers – Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong – are accused of being part of a Chinese hacking group known as APT10 or Cloudhopper. Industry […]

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Chinese Hackers Allegedly Snooped on EU Diplomatic Cables for Years

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Hackers have been listening to European Union diplomatic communications for the past three years, intercepting international negotiations and messages with top leaders in the US, Russia, China, Israel, Saudi Arabia and other nations, the New York Times… Continue reading Chinese Hackers Allegedly Snooped on EU Diplomatic Cables for Years→

Cybersecurity firm Area 1 defends pointing finger at China over European cables hack

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Chinese military hackers have used a persistent phishing campaign to steal thousands of European diplomatic cables on sensitive topics ranging from counterterrorism to technology exports, cybersecurity researchers charged Wednesday. The years-long operation targeted over 100 organizations, including the United Nations and the AFL-CIO, according to Area 1, a California-based cybersecurity company. The China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was behind the effort, Area 1 said. The company did not list detailed forensic evidence linking the hack to the PLA, drawing criticism from other researchers as to why an attribution was made. But Area 1 defended its work, telling CyberScoop it had plenty of evidence of China’s role in the breach. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to a request for comment on the allegations. European Union officials said Wednesday that they were investigating the breach. In an interview with CyberScoop, Area 1 co-founder Blake Darché said the company had […]

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Critical SQLite Flaw Leaves Millions of Apps Vulnerable to Hackers

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Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a critical vulnerability in widely used SQLite database software that exposes billions of deployments to hackers.

Dubbed as ‘Magellan’ by Tencent’s Blade security team, the newly discovered SQLite flaw could a… Continue reading Critical SQLite Flaw Leaves Millions of Apps Vulnerable to Hackers→

New Ransomware Spreading Rapidly in China Infected Over 100,000 PCs

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A new piece of ransomware is spreading rapidly across China that has already infected more than 100,000 computers in the last four days as a result of a supply-chain attack… and the number of infected users is continuously increasing every hour.

Wha… Continue reading New Ransomware Spreading Rapidly in China Infected Over 100,000 PCs→

DOJ unseals charges against 10 Chinese nationals for hacking aerospace companies

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The Department of Justice on Tuesday unsealed charges against 10 Chinese nationals, including intelligence officers and hackers, for a multi-year campaign to steal aerospace technology and other proprietary information from U.S. companies. Partly relying on a “team of hackers,” intelligence officers at a provincial arm of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) focused on stealing turbofan-engine technology used in European and U.S. commercial airliners, DOJ said in a statement. The alleged operation lasted from at least January 2010 to May 2015, the department said. The turbofan engine was a joint project between unnamed French aerospace manufacturer and a U.S.-based company, according to DOJ. The Chinese intelligence operation breached the networks of the French manufacturer, as well as those of companies based in Arizona, Massachusetts and Oregon, the department said. The indictment returned by a grand jury in the Southern District of California lays out the hackers’ alleged tradecraft in detail. “The hackers used a […]

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High-ranking Chinese operative charged with economic espionage, theft of trade secrets

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The US is intensifying its push to repress Chinese espionage efforts. A high-level Chinese intelligence officer from China’s major spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), was arrested in Belgium in April on charges of economic espionage… Continue reading High-ranking Chinese operative charged with economic espionage, theft of trade secrets→

Chinese Spying Chips Found Hidden On Servers Used By US Companies

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A media report today revealed details of a significant supply chain attack which appears to be one of the largest corporate espionage and hardware hacking programs from a nation-state.

According to a lengthy report published today by Bloomberg, a tiny… Continue reading Chinese Spying Chips Found Hidden On Servers Used By US Companies→

No.1 Adware Removal Tool On Apple App Store Caught Spying On Mac Users

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A highly popular top-tier app in Apple’s Mac App Store that’s designed to protect its users from adware and malware threats has been, ironically, found surreptitiously stealing their browsing history without their consent, and sending it to a server in… Continue reading No.1 Adware Removal Tool On Apple App Store Caught Spying On Mac Users→

Chinese Hackers Mount Espionage Campaign During Trump-Putin Summit

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An uncharacteristic spate of strikes against IoT devices in Finland during the summit was likely an indicator of a coordinated cyberespionage effort, researchers said. Continue reading Chinese Hackers Mount Espionage Campaign During Trump-Putin Summit→