The Chinese National Internet Emergency Center (CNIE) has revealed two significant cases of cyber espionage targeting Chinese technology companies and research institutions.
These attacks, suspected to be orchestrated by U.S. intelligence agencies, aimed to steal sensitive commercial secrets and intellectual property, raising alarm over the growing sophistication of cyber threats.
Targeting Advanced Material Design Companies
One of the recent cases involved a prominent advanced material design and research organization in China. Since August 2024, the company has been subjected to a highly sophisticated cyber attack.
Analysts discovered that attackers exploited a vulnerability in an electronic document security management system widely used across the country.
According to CNIE’s investigation, the attackers infiltrated the company’s software upgrade management server, using it to deploy control Trojans to over 270 hosts across the organization.
This breach allowed the cybercriminals to steal substantial amounts of sensitive commercial secrets and intellectual property.
CNIE officials stated in their analysis: “The attackers exploited a vulnerability in a certain electronic document security management system to invade the software upgrade management server and delivered control Trojans through the compromised software upgrade service.”
Major Breach in Smart Energy and Digital Information Sector
A separate case, dating back to May 2023, targeted one of…