Chinese hackers cast wide net for trade secrets in US, Europe and Asia, researchers say

Hackers targeted content blueprints with wide applications in the pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors. According to To the Boston-based security firm Cyberson. The firm discovered the activity last year but said the hacking campaign date is at least 2019, and suggested that the data remote could be temporarily stolen.

The study is a disturbing reminder of the scope of cyber threats facing US businesses and government agencies as the Biden administration seeks to thwart them. For all the focus on potential Russian hacking Due to the war in Ukraine, China’s digital operators have been very active.

Liu added that “China opposes baseless speculations and allegations about hacker attacks.” “If the firm really cares. [sic] As for global cybersecurity, they should pay more attention to cyber attacks by the US government on China and other countries. “

Cybersecurity researchers and U.S. officials have for years accused Chinese spies and military agencies of hacking and stealing trade secrets.

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbott, in a speech to the American Hospitals Association last week, accused China of having a “huge, sophisticated cyber-theft program, and more cyber-intervention than any other nation in the world.” Is.

The FBI declined to comment on the Cybersecurity report.

U.S. officials and cybersecurity analysts point to China’s “Made in 2025” plan – an ambitious state plan to achieve economic dominance – as a rubbish for companies whose data Chinese hackers have targeted.

Some analysts saw a temporary decline in Chinese hacking activity immediately after the deal. But Adam Meyers, senior vice president of intelligence at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, suspects that any reduction in Chinese economic espionage at the moment could be due to the reorganization of the People’s Liberation Army of the Eleventh.

“During this time, in 2016, we began to see a major shift in the Chinese intervention in the groups that are now involved in the Ministry of State’s security,” Meyers told CNN, citing China’s civilian intelligence agency. . “

Meyers said China’s global cyber espionage campaigns have increasingly targeted large archives of valuable data, such as telecom and Internet service providers, rather than single organizations.

“I think they’ve really stepped up their game behind the broader infrastructure, so it’s harder to say that they were spying on the economy,” Meyers said.

The firm’s executives said they first saw the activity when the attackers violated an Asian subsidiary of a major manufacturing and technology firm.

But according to Cybersecurity, it will take months for the hackers to successfully get out of the network, which shows how much they intend on their mission.