China’s Ministry of State Security Directed the Theft of COVID-19 Research and the Exploitation of Microsoft Exchange Server Vulnerabilities, Known Publicly as the Indiscriminate ‘HAFNIUM’ Intrusion Campaign The Justice Department announced today that Xu Zewei (徐泽伟), 33, of the People’s Republic of China was arrested on July 3 in Italy at the request of the United States.
Xu and his co-defendant, PRC national Zhang Yu (张宇), 44, are charged in a nine-count indictment, unsealed today in the Southern District of Texas, for their involvement in computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021, including the indiscriminate HAFNIUM computer intrusion campaign that compromised thousands of computers worldwide, including in the United States. Xu was arrested in Milan, Italy, and will face extradition proceedings.
Read more…
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber secnews and insights delivered right to your inbox.
Related:
- Senator Asks DHS To Enable Email Security Feature to Prevent Phishing
July 18, 2017
A senator who’s been pushing US government agencies to adopt better cybersecurity hygiene is calling out the Department of Homeland Security for not using a standard technology that would protect people who receive emails from DHS from fraud, spam, and phishing attempts. The technology in question is known as DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) ...
- Trump administration limits government use of Kaspersky Lab software
July 11, 2017
The Trump administration on Tuesday removed Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab from two lists of approved vendors used by government agencies to purchase technology equipment, amid concerns the cyber security firm’s products could be used by the Kremlin to gain entry into U.S. networks. The delisting represents the most concrete action taken against Kaspersky following months of mounting ...
- U.S. warns businesses of hacking campaign against nuclear, energy firms
July 1, 2017
The U.S government warned industrial firms this week about a hacking campaign targeting the nuclear and energy sectors, the latest event to highlight the power industry’s vulnerability to cyber attacks. Since at least May, hackers used tainted “phishing” emails to “harvest credentials” so they could gain access to networks of their targets, according to a joint ...
- NSA Advocates Data Sharing Framework
June 23, 2017
The economics of cybersecurity are skewed in favor of attackers, who invest once and can launch thousands of attacks with a piece of malware or exploit kit. That’s why Neal Ziring, technical director for the NSA’s Capabilities Directorate, wants to flip the financial equation on bad guys. “We need to conduct defenses in a way that ...
- US Secretary of State: Я буду работать с Россией по вопросам кибербезопасности
June 23, 2017
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has expressed a willingness to work directly with Russia on cybersecurity and other issues. The proposed partnership is surprising, given the continued controversy over allegations that the Russians interfered with last year’s US presidential election – a serious accusation at the center of an ongoing Congressional inquiry. Secretary of State Tillerson ...
- Cybersecurity Demands a Military Mindset
June 21, 2017
American corporations have a high degree of cybersecurity risk awareness, and yet many enterprises, especially in non-regulated sectors, fall short in their cybersecurity stance. This is mainly because executives see security as an ROI-less investment mandated by regulation. Even worse, executives suffer from two psychological biases: “We haven’t suffered a breach this year, so no need ...
