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

  • Maximizing Your Security Budget This Year

    Perimeter Security Standards for Multi-Site Businesses

    When you run or own a business that has multiple locations, it is important to set clear perimeter security standards. By doing this, it allows you to assess and mitigate any potential threats or risks at each site or location efficiently and effectively. Read Now

  • New Research Shows a Continuing Increase in Ransomware Victims

    GuidePoint Security recently announced the release of GuidePoint Research and Intelligence Team’s (GRIT) Q1 2024 Ransomware Report. In addition to revealing a nearly 20% year-over-year increase in the number of ransomware victims, the GRIT Q1 2024 Ransomware Report observes major shifts in the behavioral patterns of ransomware groups following law enforcement activity – including the continued targeting of previously “off-limits” organizations and industries, such as emergency hospitals. Read Now

  • OpenAI's GPT-4 Is Capable of Autonomously Exploiting Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

    According to a new study from four computer scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, OpenAI’s paid chatbot, GPT-4, is capable of autonomously exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities without any human assistance. Read Now

  • Getting in Someone’s Face

    There was a time, not so long ago, when the tradeshow industry must have thought COVID-19 might wipe out face-to-face meetings. It sure seemed that way about three years ago. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • ISC West
Most   Popular

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • 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

  • 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

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles. 3