FBI Uncovers Massive Chinese Cyber Espionage Operation Targeting U.S. Officials: AP
A federal investigation has uncovered a massive cyberespionage campaign, which it turns out was carried out by the Chinese government. Its purpose was to penetrate the communications networks of the United States in order to steal information related to persons associated with government and political activities.
As reported by the publication The Associated Press representatives of the FBI and the Federal Agency for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security confirmed that hackers acting in the interests of Beijing broke into the networks of a number of American telecommunications companies. These actions indicate a high level of threat, because a whole number of networks turned out to be under the control of attackers.
The FBI does not name specific victims, but it is noted that most of them are related to government and political structures. This indicates that the hackers’ efforts are aimed at compromising communications of strategic importance.
According to representatives of the agency, the hackers tried to copy certain information that was “the subject of requests by American law enforcement agencies in accordance with court decisions.” The FBI believes that these efforts may be aimed at disrupting programs that operate under the supervision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). That law gives U.S. intelligence agencies broad powers to monitor the communications of individuals who may be connected to foreign countries, and it is precisely these programs that could have been targeted by Chinese hackers.
