Chinese hackers attack defence ministry, many pvt entities like Jio: Report

After the recent border clash, Chinese hackers have pumped-up their attempts to hack many Indian entities, says India Today.

Several Indian businesses, government ministries, and media organisations were targeted by hacker groups linked to China, according to the report.

A Singapore-based cyber threat intelligence firm Cyfirma Research said Chinese hacker groups are targeting entities like the Defence Ministry, Reliance Jio, Airtel, BSNL, Micromax, Cipla, Sun Pharma, MRF, and L&T, according to the report. 

The sectors that were targeted were telecom, pharma, media companies, smartphone makers, construction, and tyre firms. 
 

The hacking could be an attempt to 'tarnish' the reputation of the entities by spying on sensitive information, including trade secrets, said Cyfirma Research.

The hackers targeted three central government ministries including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said the research firm.

A note released by the firm said: “In the hackers' conversations, IP [Internet protocol] addresses were shared and discussed. Our analysis of these IP addresses attributed Gothic Panda and Stone Panda to be behind these potential hacking campaigns. These are two prolific hacking groups with close association with the Chinese Government.”

Cyfirma said both groups have been actively involved in targeting organisation in countries like India, Japan, Canada, and Brazil.

Some of the common attacks attempted by these two firms included defacing websites using vulnerabilities in web applications, spying on data using specialised malware, denial of service and impersonating websites of companies and launching malicious phishing campaigns.

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