Decade-Long Cyber-Spying Likely Tied To China Targeted Indian Sectors

NEW YORK: For over a decade a cyber operation with likely ties to China spied on Indian defence, business and media operations using malware hidden in emails or documents on topics of interest to the targets, according to a Silicon Valley-headquartered cyber-security company.

"A decade-long operation focused on targets -- government and commercial -- that hold key political, economic, and military information about the region," FireEye said on Sunday in a report on cyber espionage that covered India and South-East Asia.

The spying "centered on Indian defence and military materiel topics," the report said. "In particular, a number of spear phishing subjects have related to Indian aircraft carrier and oceanographic monitoring processes."

Tracking the cyberspying that started in 2005, FireEye said, "Such a sustained, planned development effort, coupled with the group's regional targets and mission, lead us to believe that this activity is state sponsored -- most likely by the Chinese government."

Saying the cybersnoops were an advanced persistent threat (APT), FireEye dubbed them APT30.

FireEye was a key player in international initiatives against cyberthreats. It announced the launch of the Global Threat Intelligence Sharing initiative at the White House Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection Summit in February. The programme aims at helping businesses and organisations share information about cyberthreats.

"Advanced threat group like APT 30 illustrate that state-sponsored cyber espionage affects a variety of governments and corporations across the world," according to Dan McWhorter, FireEye's vice president for threat intelligence.

An important element of APT30's threat FireEye said is how they have been able to operate successfully for so long using similar "tools, tactics, and infrastructure since at least 2005."

FireEye said it has identified alerts from about APT30 malware from its Indian customers including an aerospace and Defence Company and a telecommunications firm.

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