Newscenter Media News A Chinese state-backed cyber hacking outfit is allegedly targeting the government and commercial sector networks of Australia, according to accusations made by the country’s allies, the US, UK, and Japan.
In support of a “shared understanding” of a Chinese “state-sponsored cyber group and their current threat to Australian networks,” security and intelligence agencies from Five Eyes partner nations—the US, UK, Canada, and New Zealand—as well as Germany, Japan, and South Korea—backed the Tuesday statement.
The group carried out “malicious cyber operations” for China’s Ministry of State Security, according to the intelligence agencies, and its tactics and activities overlapped with those of a group that was previously designated as Advanced Persistent Threat 40.
Together with foreign partners, the Australian Cyber Security Centre published a joint report identifying the group as APT40 and outlining their alleged participation in hostile cyber operations.
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APT40 allegedly obtained hundreds of usernames and passwords from two anonymous Australian networks two years ago, according to the agency.
“APT40 has repeatedly targeted Australian networks as well as government and private sector networks in the region, and the threat they pose to our networks is ongoing,” the advisory said.
APT40’s cyber activities allegedly target and exploit vulnerabilities in networks that are visible to the public, primarily focusing on locating and taking advantage of these flaws in infrastructure.
Their tactics allegedly involve quickly modifying exploit proofs-of-concept for recently found flaws in popular software applications, improving their ability to penetrate and survive within hacked networks.
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