Report: Chinese Hackers Breached Hundreds of Networks Globally

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Facts

• On Thursday, cybersecurity firm Mandiant claimed in an emailed statement that Chinese hackers — believed to be state-supported — have broken into the networks of hundreds of public and private sector organizations globally.¹
• Mandiant, which was hired by Barracuda Networks, concluded that a security flaw in the company's email security gear was exploited to compromise hundreds of companies and organizations.²
• Mandiant, owned by Google, stated with 'high confidence' that such activity began as early as October, with a third of targeted groups having used the email security appliance being government agencies.³
• According to Mandiant's chief technical officer Charles Carmakal, this is the most severe breach allegedly conducted by a 'China-nexus threat actor' since the 'mass exploitation' of Microsoft Exchange in 2021. Of the organizations targeted, 55% were from the Americas, 22% from Asia Pacific, and 24% from other regions.⁴
• Barracuda stated Thursday that they believed approximately 5% of its active Email Security Gateway appliances showed evidence of potential compromise, adding that it would provide replacement appliances at no cost.⁵
• When asked for comment on the matter, the US White House reaffirmed an alert made last week by the FBI and the federal government's cybersecurity agency regarding current methods to mitigate potential threats.⁶

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²TechCrunch, ³Voa, ⁴Abc news, ⁵Spectrumlocalnews and ⁶Barrons.

Narratives

• Anti-China narrative, as provided by The hill. Public-private collaboration is essential for the US to fight off rapidly evolving cybersecurity threats from the likes of China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran. Minimum cybersecurity standards across the sectors must be developed, alongside an acceptance that the issue will remain a continuous conflict and evolution of danger and defense.
• Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global times. The US is projecting its own crimes onto China as it uses the veil of 'national interests' to conduct surveillance and attack the rest of the world. These types of accusations are nothing more than an excuse to justify Washington's flagrant sanctions on Chinese and other foreign tech companies with the intent of maintaining its global dominance.

Predictions