Foreign spies use front companies to disguise their hacking, borrowing an old camouflage tactic
Professional hackers who already try to hide their activity through an array of technical means now seem to be trying on more corporate disguises, by creating front companies or working as government contractors to boost their legitimacy. U.S. law enforcement in September accused hackers based in Iran and China of conducting global espionage operations while appearing to exist as otherwise innocuous technology firms. While the public nature of the charges are proof the efforts weren’t entirely successful, the tactic marks an evolution of the use of dummy corporations since a group of financial scammers stole a reported $1 billion by posing as a cybersecurity testing firm. “It just makes it harder to figure out who’s doing what, and what are their motivations,” John Demers, the U.S. assistant attorney general for national security, said of the apparent motivation in a recent interview. “For a company that’s suffered a breach, it may […]
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