Chinese Hackers Infiltrate Global Governments, Organizations, Security Firm Says

By Will Kessler via The Daily Caller Foundation | June 15, 2023

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.

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.”

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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