By Shannon Tiezzi
A new report claims to have uncovered a Chinese hacking group more sophisticated than Unit 61398.
A report issued by private cyber-security firms claims to have unveiled a sophisticated hacking outfit sponsored by the Chinese government. The cyber threat, named “Axiom” in the report, is said to have targeted everything from government offices to NGOs and media outlets in a global campaign over the past six years. A PDF of the full report, titled ““Operation SMN: Axiom Threat Actor Group Report” can be accessed here (PDF).
The findings come from “Operation SMN,” a joint effort among private cyber-security companies to identify and counter “a sophisticated advanced threat actor group.” The effort was led by Novetta; other public partners included Cisco and FireEye (author of its own reports about Chinese cyberspying), with additional cooperation from Microsoft and Symantec.
The key finding of the report is as follows:
Axiom is responsible for directing highly sophisticated cyber espionage operations against numerous Fortune 500 companies, journalists, environmental groups, pro-democracy groups, software companies, academic institutions, and government agencies worldwide for at least the last six years.
The report expressed “moderate to high confidence that the organization tasking Axiom is a part of [the] Chinese Intelligence Apparatus.” This allegation was further supported by an FBI flash alleging that the cyber activity Novetta associated with Axiom is connected to the Chinese government.
Read the full story at The Diplomat