Chinese hackers are suspected of breaching the networks of public and private organizations globally in an exploitation that has been occurring since 2021, according to cybersecurity firm Mandiant.
Since 2021, suspected state-backed Chinese hackers have exploited a security hole involving emails containing malicious files to gain access to various organizations, with the majority being in the Americas, according to a release from Mandiant. The release does not indicate which public and private organizations were subjected to the attacks, but noted that the attacks spanned at least 16 different countries and numerous government organizations. (RELATED: GOP 2024 Candidates Cautious About Committing US Troops To Taiwan)
Mandiant discovered the widespread infiltration by Chinese hackers after its own systems were compromised in Oct. 2022, according to the firm. The group said it had “high confidence” that the attackers were involved in “espionage activity in support of the People’s Republic of China.”
China’s foreign ministry said that reports of Chinese hackers spying on critical US infrastructure are a disinformation campaign initiated by the United States https://t.co/cnFOv03oNv pic.twitter.com/9X9Vkd4kmt
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 25, 2023
State-backed Chinese hackers have attacked U.S. government sites in the past, including an attack by the Chinese group “Volt Typhoon” in May, which attempted to break into critical infrastructure in Guam and other U.S. sites to conduct espionage. The sites targeted hold key military significance, especially regarding the protection of Taiwan.
Other acts of espionage by the country include the use of a Chinese spy balloon in April that collected intelligence on U.S. military sites by floating over the country. The balloon picked up electronic signals as it flew between military installations and transmitted that data to Beijing in real-time, according to two current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration officials, in comments made to NBC News.
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