A Global Cyber-Attack Was Detected And China Could Be Behind It

While we were all obliviously surfing the Internet and going about with our lives, a massive and coordinated cyber attack occurred on a worldwide scale. At least ten global telcos were hit by the attack that caused the loss or damage of users’ personal information, call logs and other private data. 

China Probably Sponsored The Attack

The attack was detected first by the security company Cybereason, and the company has also taken upon itself to investigate the matter. Speaking to the news, the Cybereason revealed that the attack could have started in as early as 2012 and as much as 20 victims were targeted. Although the company would not share publicly the names of the companies affected by the attack since everything is still under investigation, they did mention that there is a high probability that China is behind the sophisticated cyber-attack.

Continuous Surveillance

The chief goal of the attack seems to be long-term, continuous surveillance of users worldwide by continuously tracking the location of people’s devices in real-time. The hackers also have access to people’s cell activities. While they could have known when, where, and who the affected user called, fortunately, they would not know the content of the conversation according to Cybereason.

Amit Serper - the head of security for Cybereason stated that the hackers conducted the attack by targeting vulnerabilities in telecom companies’ infrastructure. By exploiting weaknesses in their servers, the hackers could easily gain access to companies’ internal networks and do their business.

And the result of the entire operation is that a whole company’s system is compromised.

Or simply put, as Serper told the press: “Everything is completely owned.”