China-linked hackers have reportedly been gathering massive amounts of information from computer networks across the globe — more than the Chinese spy balloon.
In an article published Tuesday, NBC News said:
CrowdStrike says in its annual global threat report that it observed China-linked cyberespionage groups targeting 39 industries on nearly every continent. About a quarter of the hacking was aimed at North America, while most of it targeted China’s Asian neighbors, the report found. The techniques China used have become increasingly sophisticated as cybersecurity has improved, the report found.
Crowdstrike’s head of intelligence, Adam Meyers, warned that “They’re endemic at this point — they’re everywhere.”
The news comes after the U.S. military shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was floating over the country earlier this month, Breitbart News reported on February 4.
China and the United States reportedly hack into the networks of adversaries to search for and gather intelligence, according to U.S. officials. But while the Chinese hack private corporations for intellectual property, America does not, the officials noted.
The Chinese have denied those accusations; however, hacking is still the communist country’s main espionage activity, according to James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In recent years, the Chinese hackers’ efforts have reportedly become “sophisticated campaigns to steal credentials and slip quietly into networks,” the NBC article said.
In May, the Boston security firm Cybereason reported on a “massive Chinese intellectual property theft operation” that was known as “Operation CuckooBees,” according to Breitbart News.
“The operation involved Chinese hackers stealing hundreds of gigabytes of high-tech intellectual property from some 30 multinational corporations, including military technology and pharmaceutical data,” the outlet said.
On Tuesday, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party is scheduled to hold its first hearing on the threat posed by the CCP, Breitbart News reported.
At the meeting, leaders will possibly discuss China’s surveillance program regarding balloons and the country’s military aggression towards Taiwan.
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