Chinese hackers resume cyber-attacks on U.S.

Submitted by Senthil Kumar on 2013, May 21 - 12:12

• Technology Sector
• Internet
• TNM
• China
• United States

Hackers working for China's People's Liberation Army have resumed cyber-attacks on the United State's corporate as well as government agencies, private cyber security firm Mandiant Corp discovered.
Earlier this year, a unit of the People's Liberation Army (Unit 61398) situated on the outskirts of Shanghai had been found facilitating cyber attacks against the U. S.' private and government organizations, but the hackers stopped the attacks almost immediately after the U. S. made their actions public under a "naming and shaming" strategy in February.
But, as per Mandiant's new study, Chinese hackers have resumed the attacks, using new hacking tools and techniques. Security experts at Mandiant claimed that they had already spotted the Chinese hackers at work, and had also traced them back to their home.
The Pentagon report said, "China is using its computer network exploitation (CNE) capability to support intelligence collection against the U. S. diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support U. S. national defense programs."
According to security experts at Mandiant, Chinese hackers are once again trying to steal every U. S. secret, ranging from blueprints to confidential test results.
As per Mandiant's estimates, the new cyber attacks are at 60-70 per cent of their pre-February levels, but they are just as perilous as they were in the past.
Meanwhile, the U. S. continues to warn China that any such attacks and theft of any confidential data will hinder the country's growth by discouraging corporate investment in China.