New Chinese Military Cyberattacks Discovered

New Chinese Military Cyberattacks Discovered

  • By Ginger Hill
  • Jun 11, 2014

After the US announced criminal charges against five Chinese military officers from Unit 61398 just last month, a new Shanghai-based hacker unit with ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in China has been identified.

Hacker Profile

Name: Unit 61486, the 12th Bureau of the PLA’s 3rd General Staff Department

New Chinese Military Cyberattacks DiscoveredCode Name: “Putter Panda”

Targets: Golf-playing conference attendees; intelligence-gathering on US government sectors; and American, European and Japanese satellite, aerospace and communication companies.

Actions Taken: Use of emails containing job postings, PDF invitations to conferences and a yoga studio brochure to lure victims to download custom malware. (Remember, be careful what links you click within your email!)

Person(s) Identified: 35-year-old Chen Ping, known as “cpyy,” used to register domains for cyberattacks.

Putter Panda is believed to have been in operation since at least 2007 with evidence indicating that they cooperated or shared resources with Unit 61398. Investigation by security firm CrowdStrike found photo albums that could reveal military connections, forum discussions relating to security and “cpyy” interactions with a suspected member of Unit 61398.

According to CrowdStrike’s Adam Meyers, “We’ve got the gun, the bullet and the body.”

Some cybersecurity reports suggest that US companies should be allowed to retaliate against hackers, but I’m not so sure that is the best approach to combating cybercrimes.

Do you think companies should be allowed to freely retaliate? Why or why not?

About the Author

Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.

Featured

  • Gaining a Competitive Edge

    Ask most companies about their future technology plans and the answers will most likely include AI. Then ask how they plan to deploy it, and that is where the responses may start to vary. Every company has unique surveillance requirements that are based on market focus, scale, scope, risk tolerance, geographic area and, of course, budget. Those factors all play a role in deciding how to configure a surveillance system, and how to effectively implement technologies like AI. Read Now

  • 6 Ways Security Awareness Training Empowers Human Risk Management

    Organizations are realizing that their greatest vulnerability often comes from within – their own people. Human error remains a significant factor in cybersecurity breaches, making it imperative for organizations to address human risk effectively. As a result, security awareness training (SAT) has emerged as a cornerstone in this endeavor because it offers a multifaceted approach to managing human risk. Read Now

  • The Stage is Set

    The security industry spans the entire globe, with manufacturers, developers and suppliers on every continent (well, almost—sorry, Antarctica). That means when regulations pop up in one area, they often have a ripple effect that impacts the entire supply chain. Recent data privacy regulations like GDPR in Europe and CPRA in California made waves when they first went into effect, forcing businesses to change the way they approach data collection and storage to continue operating in those markets. Even highly specific regulations like the U.S.’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) can have international reverberations – and this growing volume of legislation has continued to affect global supply chains in a variety of different ways. Read Now

  • Access Control Technology

    As we move swiftly toward the end of 2024, the security industry is looking at the trends in play, what might be on the horizon, and how they will impact business opportunities and projections. Read Now

Most   Popular

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area. 3

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises. 3