A big leak of data from a Chinese cybersecurity firm has revealed state security agents paying tens of thousands of pounds to harvest data on targets, including foreign governments, while hackers hoover up huge amounts of information on any person or institution who might be of interest to their prospective clients. The cache of more than 500 leaked files from the Chinese firm I-Soon was posted on the developer website Github and is thought by cybersecurity experts to be genuine. Some of the targets discussed include Nato and the UK…
Tag: Cybercrime
Chinese teenager found alive in Utah woods after ‘cyber-kidnapping scam’
A Chinese exchange student who fell victim to a “cyber-kidnapping” scam, in which his parents were extorted for $80,000, was found alive but “cold and scared” in a tent in the Utah wilderness, police said. Kai Zhuang, 17, was reported missing on Thursday after his parents in China told officials at his host high school in Riverdale, Utah, that he appeared to have been kidnapped and a ransom had been requested. The case followed a typical pattern for cyber-kidnapping, in which “kidnappers” tell a victim to isolate and provide pictures…
Ransomware attack on China’s biggest bank disrupts US Treasury market
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s US arm was hit by a ransomware attack that disrupted trades in the US Treasury market on Thursday, the latest in a string of victims ransom-demanding hackers have claimed this year. ICBC Financial Services, the US unit of China’s largest commercial lender by assets, said it was investigating the attack that disrupted some of its systems, and making progress toward recovering from it. China’s foreign ministry said on Friday the lender was striving to minimise risk impact and losses after the attack. “ICBC…
GCHQ warns of fresh threat from Chinese state-sponsored hackers
The UK’s cybersecurity agency has urged operators of critical national infrastructure, including energy and telecommunications networks, to prevent Chinese state-sponsored hackers from hiding on their systems. The National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, issued the warning after it emerged that a Chinese hacking group known as Volt Typhoon had targeted a US military outpost in the Pacific Ocean. The so-called Five Eyes intelligence group – the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand – issued a joint notice detailing the nature of the Volt Typhoon threat and how…
Microsoft says China-backed hacker targeted critical infrastructure in US and Guam
Microsoft said on Wednesday it had uncovered malicious activity by a state-sponsored actor based in China aimed at critical infrastructure organizations in Guam and the United States. Microsoft said it assessed with “moderate confidence” that this Volt Typhoon campaign “is pursuing development of capabilities that could disrupt critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia region during future crises”. Volt Typhoon has been active since mid-2021. Guam is home to major US military facilities, including the Andersen air force base, which would be key to responding to any conflict…
FBI and MI5 leaders give unprecedented joint warning on Chinese spying
The head of the FBI and the leader of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency have delivered an unprecedented joint address raising fresh alarm about the Chinese government, warning business leaders that Beijing is determined to steal their technology for competitive gain. In a speech at MI5’s London headquarters intended as a show of western solidarity, Christopher Wray, the FBI director, stood alongside the MI5 director general, Ken McCallum. Wray reaffirmed longstanding concerns about economic espionage and hacking operations by China, as well as the Chinese government’s efforts to stifle dissent abroad.…
Cyber review warns UK and west in ‘clash of values’ with Russia and China
Britain and the west are becoming embroiled in a “clash of values” with Russia and China over the rules governing the internet, ministers and spy chiefs have warned in the UK’s first national cyber review published since 2016. Threats to the UK in cyberspace are “evolving and diversifying” they added, and argued that Britain has to improve its offensive cyber capabilities – and its wider digital skills base – to meet the challenge. “Cyberspace will become more contested as state and non-state actors seek strategic advantage,” the review said, with…