US Expresses Concern Over Significant 'Advancement' in Chinese Hacking Technology
[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi, Reporter Na Ju-seok] It has been claimed that a hacking group linked to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been attacking China’s aviation and aerospace sectors, scientific research institutions, internet companies, oil companies, and government agencies for over 10 years since 2008 using cyber weapons.
According to China’s state-run Global Times on the 4th, Chinese internet security company Qihoo 360 asserted that CIA hackers grouped under the name 'APT-C-39' have been attacking various Chinese industries for more than a decade.
They explained that after comparing and analyzing the CIA’s cyber weapons disclosed by the whistleblowing site WikiLeaks in 2017 with the malware used to attack Chinese institutions that they discovered, they concluded that they matched. They also added that the cyber weapons attacking various Chinese industries were developed over several years by the CIA’s research and development (R&D) team, with costs amounting to millions of dollars, as confirmed in reports.
An anonymous white-hat hacker affiliated with Qihoo 360 told Global Times in an interview, “Through big data analysis, we compared the characteristics, targets, and malware of numerous cyber attack cases with the leaked information inside the code-named ‘Vault 7’ released by WikiLeaks, and the details matched exactly. Numerous pieces of evidence show that the hacker group attacking Chinese institutions belongs to the CIA.”
Global Times pointed out that this is the first time detailed and extensive evidence of the U.S. cyberattacks against China has been publicly disclosed, and it will serve as decisive proof that the U.S. is a ‘hacking empire.’
Chinese experts believe there is a high possibility that the CIA has stolen a large amount of sensitive information from various Chinese sectors, and they are advising that the Chinese government should directly file lawsuits against the CIA-related hackers.
This is not the first accusation that the CIA has hacked various Chinese sectors. In September last year, another Chinese internet security company also released a report exposing CIA hacking cases.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is raising concerns about Chinese hacking. On the 10th of last month, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed that four hackers affiliated with China’s People’s Liberation Army hacked the U.S.’s largest credit rating agency, Equifax, stealing sensitive information of 150 million Americans. According to U.S. Attorney General William Barr, these Chinese hackers collected Americans’ names, birthdays, addresses, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license information. The Department of Justice also expressed concerns that China could use the stolen information for intelligence gathering activities, including information on U.S. government officials.
Warnings about the threat of Chinese hacking are also emerging in the U.S. private sector.
According to the annual cybersecurity report released on the 3rd by security firm CrowdStrike, the hacking capabilities of China, North Korea, and Russia were analyzed to have become more advanced last year. The report also included that Chinese hackers targeted U.S. healthcare companies for corporate information purposes. Additionally, it mentioned that Chinese hackers hacked not only the U.S. but also neighboring countries around China.
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