Chinese hackers used a flaw in a popular email security device to break into the networks of hundreds of public and private sector organizations around the world, Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm, revealed Thursday.
“This is the largest known cyber espionage campaign linking to China since the massive exploitation of Microsoft Exchange in early 2021,” Mandiant technology manager Charles Carmakal said in a statement.
Google-owned technology Mandiant admitted with “high certainty” that the group that exploited the software vulnerability in the email Security Gateway, owned by Barracuda Networks, was involved in “espionage activities in favor of the People’s Republic of China.” .
In the released statement, Mandiant also revealed that the espionage activity began in October last year.
Hackers sent emails with malicious file attachments to gain access to targeted organizations’ devices and data, it said.
Of targeted organizations, 55% were from the Americas, 22% from Asia Pacific, and 24% from Europe, Middle East, and Africa and included ministries of foreign affairs in Southeast Asia, departments of foreign trade, and universities and academic institutions in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
On June 6 this year, North American Barracuda said some of its email security devices had been hacked in October last year, allowing intruders to access compromised networks.
The action was so serious that this North American company, based in the state of California, advised to completely replace the devices.
Source: DN
