Chinese Hackers Seized 100 GB of Indian Immigration Data, According to Leaked Documents
Chinese Hackers Seized 100 GB of Indian Immigration Data, According to Leaked Documents
Documents that have been leaked expose the scope of cyber intrusions perpetrated by a hacking group associated with the Chinese government. The implications give rise to concerns regarding the magnitude and durability of cyber threats emanating from China, as well as the resulting repercussions on cybersecurity on a global scale. Foreign governments, corporations, and infrastructure are targets. A Shanghai-based company, iSoon, is heavily involved in cyber operations within China.
Beijing: The Chinese state-affiliated hacking group has released a plethora of documents that have revealed extensive cyber intrusions carried out by military and intelligence entities in Beijing. These intrusions targeted foreign infrastructure, governments, and businesses.
The Washington Post reports that the compromised cache, which included chat records, images, and more than 570 files, offers a unique glimpse into the workings of a company contracted by Chinese government agencies to collect massive amounts of data on demand.
The eight-year-long contracts, which were published on GitHub the previous week, disclose the purpose of extracting foreign data. At least twenty foreign governments and territories are among the targets, including Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan.
iSoon, also known as Auxun, a Shanghai-based Chinese firm that provides third-party hacking and data-gathering services to government bureaus, security organizations, and state-owned enterprises, is alleged to be the source of the leaked documents. Listed targets are the primary focus of the trove, as opposed to data extracted from Chinese cyber operations.
The compromised spreadsheet reveals that eighty foreign targets were successfully breached, including a 3-terabyte collection of call records from South Korea’s LG U Plus telecom provider and 95.2 gigabytes of immigration data from India. The scope of the attacks also encompassed infrastructure data; among the extracted data was 459GB of road-mapping data from Taiwan, which is vital for military operations.
Read more about A Massive Leak of Chat Indicates A Chinese Co. Hacked Foreign Govt Websites including India
Although the majority of targets were located in Asia, iSoon’s influence transcended borders, as evidenced by conversation logs that potentially contained information pertaining to NATO in 2022. Discussions regarding the potential targeting of British government offices, think tanks such as Chatham House, and diplomatic partners including Pakistan and Cambodia are also revealed in the disclosure.
iSoon is a constituent of a contractor ecosystem that has its origins in China’s “patriotic” hacking scene, which has existed for the past two decades. iSoon, which operates on behalf of governmental organizations such as the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of State Security, and the Chinese military, exemplifies the Chinese approach of integrating profit motives with state support, resulting in an extensive network of actors vying for opportunities to exploit weaknesses.
The compromised documents illuminate the intense competition that exists in the national security data-gathering sector of China. Companies strive to secure profitable contracts with the government by guaranteeing ever-broader access to confidential data. The consequences of this unparalleled disclosure are extensive, giving rise to apprehensions regarding the magnitude and enduring nature of cyber perils emanating from China, as well as their potential ramifications for cybersecurity on a global level.
About The Author:
Yogesh Naager is a content marketer who specializes in the cybersecurity and B2B space. Besides writing for the News4Hackers blog, he’s also written for brands including CollegeDunia, Utsav Fashion, and NASSCOM. Naager entered the field of content in an unusual way. He began his career as an insurance sales executive, where he developed an interest in simplifying difficult concepts. He also combines this interest with a love of narrative, which makes him a good writer in the cybersecurity field. In the bottom line, he frequently writes for Craw Security.
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