A massive data breach analyzed by experts revealed that a company China computer security hacked foreign governments, social media accounts and personal computers. The private company that is accused of hacking in I-Soon, which competes for tenders from the Chinese government.
Company documents China reveal that their hackers attacked more than a dozen governments, according to cybersecurity firms SentinelLabs and Malwarebytes. I-Soon also attacked “democratic organizations” in Hong Kong, universities and the NATOthe researchers published.
What the data leak revealed about the hacks of the Chinese company
The leaked data, the contents of which could not initially be verified by AFP, was published last week by an unknown person on the online software repository GitHub. SentinelLabs analysts said the leak provides some of the “most concrete details ever released and reveals the maturity of the Chinese cyberespionage ecosystem“.
Additionally, Malwarebytes published that I-Soon managed infiltrate government offices in India, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea.
After the leak became known, AFP asked the company for a statement about the situation, but they did not respond. Furthermore, the Chinese Foreign Ministry about the case, who said “not be aware” of the same.
What does the data leak that exposed the Chinese company contain?
The leak contains hundreds of files with chat logs, presentations and goal lists. Among the documents, AFP found what appears to be a list of government targets for Thailand and the United Kingdomas well as screenshots of attempts to log into individual Facebook accounts.
“As leaked documents demonstrate, contractors play an important role in facilitating and executing many of the Chinese offensive operations in the cyber domain“said SentinelLabs analysts.
In a screenshot of a conversation, an employee even appears to describe a customer’s request that they want exclusive access to “the office of the foreign secretary, the Southeast Asia office of the Foreign Office, the national intelligence office of the prime minister’s office” and other government departments of an unnamed country.
Analysts also explained that the company offered potential clients the ability to access social network accounts X, monitor their activity and read their private messages. In addition, they included services of Apple iPhone hacking and the operating systems of other smartphones, as well as an external battery that can extract data from a device and send it to hackers.
According to this same source, the leak shows that I-Soon participated in bidding for contracts in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang.
Finally, the documents reveal the fees paid to the hackers, including the $55,000 for hacking a Vietnamese government ministry. The truth is that the FBI American has said that China has the largest hacking program of any country, something that Beijing denies.
Source: Ambito
