Cybersecurity

CIA Hackers Accused Of 11-Year Attack In New Chinese Cyber Report: This Is What’s Behind It

Chinese security company Qihoo 360 has taken the security world something by surprise, with published claims that it has exposed an eleven-year campaign by “CIA hacking group (APT-C-39),” which, it says, targeted a range of Chinese industries, including aviation, oil and gas and tech, as well as several government agencies.

“It is worth noting,” the report says, “that the attacked information technology sectors of civil aviation by the CIA are not only in China, but also involves hundreds of commercial airlines [in other] nation states.”

This is is a report heavy on speculation and inferences from already public data, and lacking in detailed attribution. What’s more interesting is that the company has elected to do this now in the public domain. We can now likely expect further Chinese exposure of alleged U.S. exploits, the potential for individuals to be identified, and a further shift of this cyber tit-for-tat into the public domain.