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The Government of China is engaged in espionage overseas, directed through diverse methods via the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the United Front Work Department (UFWD), People's Liberation Army (PLA) via its Intelligence Bureau of the Joint Staff Department, and numerous front organizations and state-owned enterprises. It employs a variety of tactics including cyber espionage to gain access to sensitive information remotely, signals intelligence, human intelligence as well as influence operations through united front activity targeting overseas Chinese communities and associations. The Chinese government is also engaged in industrial espionage aimed at gathering information and technology to bolster its economy, as well as transnational repression of dissidents abroad such as supporters of the Tibetan independence movement and Uyghurs as well as the Taiwan independence movement, the Hong Kong independence movement, Falun Gong, pro-democracy activists, and other critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The United States alleges that the degree of intelligence activity is unprecedented in its assertiveness and engagement in multiple host countries, particularly the United States, with economic damages estimated to run into the hundreds of billions according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
A supply chain attack is a cyber-attack that seeks to damage an organization by targeting less secure elements in the supply chain. A supply chain attack can occur in any industry, from the financial sector, oil industry, to a government sector. A supply chain attack can happen in software or hardware. Cybercriminals typically tamper with the manufacturing or distribution of a product by installing malware or hardware-based spying components. Symantec's 2019 Internet Security Threat Report states that supply chain attacks increased by 78 percent in 2018.
Trellix is a privately held cybersecurity company that was founded in 2022. It has been involved in the detection and prevention of major cybersecurity attacks. It provides hardware, software, and services to investigate cybersecurity attacks, protect against malicious software, and analyze IT security risks.
Operation Aurora was a series of cyber attacks performed by advanced persistent threats such as the Elderwood Group based in Beijing, China, with associations with the People's Liberation Army. First disclosed publicly by Google on January 12, 2010, by a weblog post, the attacks began in mid-2009 and continued through December 2009.
An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a stealthy threat actor, typically a state or state-sponsored group, which gains unauthorized access to a computer network and remains undetected for an extended period. In recent times, the term may also refer to non-state-sponsored groups conducting large-scale targeted intrusions for specific goals.
The United States has often accused the People's Republic of China of attempting to unlawfully acquire U.S. military technology and classified information as well as trade secrets of U.S. companies in order to support China's long-term military and commercial development. Chinese government agencies and affiliated personnel have been accused of using a number of methods to obtain U.S. technology, including espionage, exploitation of commercial entities, and a network of scientific, academic and business contacts. Prominent espionage cases include Larry Wu-tai Chin, Katrina Leung, Gwo-Bao Min, Chi Mak and Peter Lee. The Ministry of State Security (MSS) maintains a bureau dedicated to espionage against the United States, the United States Bureau.
Cyberwarfare by China is the aggregate of all combative activities in the cyberspace which are taken by organs of the People's Republic of China, including affiliated advanced persistent threat (APT) groups, against other countries.
PLA Unit 61486 is a People's Liberation Army unit dedicated to cyberattacks on American, Japanese, and European corporations focused on satellite and communications technology. It is a unit that takes part in China's campaign to steal trade and military secrets from foreign targets.
Carbanak is an APT-style campaign targeting financial institutions, that was discovered in 2014 by the Russian cyber security company Kaspersky Lab. It utilizes malware that is introduced into systems running Microsoft Windows using phishing emails, which is then used to steal money from banks via macros in documents.The hacker group is said to have stolen over 900 million dollars, from the banks as well as from over a thousand private customers.
Fancy Bear, also known as APT28, Pawn Storm, Sofacy Group, Sednit, Tsar Team and STRONTIUM or Forest Blizzard, is a Russian cyber espionage group. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has said with a medium level of confidence that it is associated with the Russian military intelligence agency GRU. The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office as well as security firms SecureWorks, ThreatConnect, and Mandiant, have also said the group is sponsored by the Russian government. In 2018, an indictment by the United States Special Counsel identified Fancy Bear as GRU Unit 26165. This refers to its unified Military Unit Number of the Russian army regiments. The headquarters of Fancy Bear and the entire military unit, which reportedly specializes in state-sponsored cyberattacks and decryption of hacked data, were targeted by Ukrainian drones on July 24, 2023, the rooftop on an adjacent building collapsed as a result of the explosion.
Lazarus Group is a hacker group made up of an unknown number of individuals, alleged to be run by the government of North Korea. While not much is known about the Lazarus Group, researchers have attributed many cyberattacks to them since 2010. Originally a criminal group, the group has now been designated as an advanced persistent threat due to intended nature, threat, and wide array of methods used when conducting an operation. Names given by cybersecurity organizations include Hidden Cobra and ZINC or Diamond Sleet. According to North Korean defector Kim Kuk-song, the unit is internally known in North Korea as 414 Liaison Office.
Double Dragon is a hacking organization with alleged ties to the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). Classified as an advanced persistent threat, the organization was named by the United States Department of Justice in September 2020 in relation to charges brought against five Chinese and two Malaysian nationals for allegedly compromising more than 100 companies around the world.
Sandworm is an advanced persistent threat operated by Military Unit 74455, a cyberwarfare unit of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence service. Other names for the group, given by cybersecurity researchers, include Telebots, Voodoo Bear, IRIDIUM, Seashell Blizzard, and Iron Viking.
Berserk Bear is a Russian cyber espionage group, sometimes known as an advanced persistent threat. According to the United States, the group is composed of "FSB hackers," either those directly employed by the FSB or Russian civilian, criminal hackers coerced into contracting as FSB hackers while still freelancing or moonlighting as criminal hackers. Four accused Berserk Bear participants, three FSB staff and one civilian, have been indicted in the United States and are regarded by the United States Department of Justice as fugitives.
A global wave of cyberattacks and data breaches began in January 2021 after four zero-day exploits were discovered in on-premises Microsoft Exchange Servers, giving attackers full access to user emails and passwords on affected servers, administrator privileges on the server, and access to connected devices on the same network. Attackers typically install a backdoor that allows the attacker full access to impacted servers even if the server is later updated to no longer be vulnerable to the original exploits. As of 9 March 2021, it was estimated that 250,000 servers fell victim to the attacks, including servers belonging to around 30,000 organizations in the United States, 7,000 servers in the United Kingdom, as well as the European Banking Authority, the Norwegian Parliament, and Chile's Commission for the Financial Market (CMF).
Hafnium is a cyber espionage group, sometimes known as an advanced persistent threat, with alleged ties to the Chinese government. Hafnium is closely connected to APT40.
China is regularly accused by the United States and several other nations of state-organized economic espionage and theft of intellectual property, in violation of international trade agreements. The espionage and theft would not be limited to business, but also include academia and government. The Ministry of State Security (MSS), united front groups, and their affiliates have been reported as frequent perpetrators of such theft.
The Hubei State Security Department is the regional branch of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) responsible for national security and secret policing in Hubei province of central China. Founded in 1993, it is headquartered in the provincial capital of Wuhan, with subordinate offices in cities and towns across the province.
The Hainan State Security Department is a provincial department of the Chinese Ministry of State Security responsible for national security and secret policing in the contiguous island province of Hainan, headquartered in Haikou. Members of the Hainan SSD have badge numbers with prefixes beginning with "46xxxx". The HSSD operates advanced persistent threat (APT) number 40.
In Q2 of 2013, Akamai Technologies reported that Indonesia topped China with a portion 38 percent of cyber attacks, an increase from the 21 percent portion in the previous quarter. China was at 33 percent and the US at 6.9 percent. 79 percent of attacks came from the Asia Pacific region. Indonesia dominated the attacking to ports 80 and 443 by about 90 percent.
References
- ↑ "BRONZE MOHAWK | Secureworks". Archived from the original on 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
- ↑ "Microsoft Security—detecting empires in the cloud". Microsoft . 24 September 2020. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
- ↑ "How Microsoft names threat actors". Microsoft. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ↑ "Hellsing Targeted Attacks". 13 January 2021. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
- ↑ "Leviathan: Espionage actor spearphishes maritime and defense targets | Proofpoint US". 16 October 2017. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
- 1 2 National Cyber Awareness System (19 July 2021). "Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures of Indicted APT40 Actors Associated with China's MSS Hainan State Security Department". Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ↑ Mackie, Kurt (July 19, 2021). "White House Says China's APT40 Responsible for Exchange Hacks, Ransomware Attacks -- Redmondmag.com". Redmondmag. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ↑ Pearse, Adam (26 March 2024). "Parliament systems targeted by China-based hackers". The New Zealand Herald . Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ↑ Cherney, Mike (July 9, 2024). "U.S., Allies Issue Rare Warning on Chinese Hacking Group" . The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved July 9, 2024.
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