Chinese Hackers Stole Hydroacoustic Data From Vietnam - gcaptain.com

Chinese Hackers Stole Hydroacoustic Data From Vietnam - gcaptain.com

Hackers hid and transmitted “trade secrets and proprietary hydroacoustic data” within digital images of a koala bear.


By Prak Chan Thul (Reuters) Buried in a long U.S. indictment accusing China of a global cyberespionage campaign was a curious detail: Among the governments targeted by Chinese hackers was Cambodia, one of Beijing’s most loyal Asian allies.


The target of the hack, which two sources with knowledge of the indictment said was Cambodia’s foreign ministry, was also revealing – discussions between China and Cambodia over the use of the Mekong River, which has become a new battleground for U.S. and Chinese influence in Southeast Asia.


Four Chinese nationals – three security officials and a contract hacker – have been charged in the United States with attacks aimed at dozens of companies, universities and government agencies in the United States and abroad, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.


Reaction from the defendants named in the indictment was not immediately available.


The accusations, which China has said were fabricated and politically motivated, were outlined in a 30-page U.S. court indictment detailing the activities of what it said was a front company run by Chinese state security in Hainan, a Chinese island province near Southeast Asia.


Among the hackers’ targets was “Cambodian Government Ministry A,” according to the indictment, from which they “stole data pertaining to discussions between the governments of China and Cambodia over the use of the Mekong River” in January 2018.


That ministry was Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, two sources with direct knowledge of the indictment told Reuters.


China’s embassy in Cambodia did not respond to two emailed requests from Reuters for comment. In a post on its WeChat messaging account, the embas ..

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