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https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/tech-news/.premium-chinese-cyberattack-targeted-dozens-of-israeli-public-and-private-organizations-1.10102531
In First Massive Cyberattack, China Targets Israel
Attack, revealed by FireEye, also targeted Israeli defense bodies and was part of a broader campaign by Chinese intel. It is the first documented case of a large-scale Chinese attack on Israel
A coordinated cyberattack, which most likely originated in China, hit dozens of Israeli government and private organizations, according to an announcement Monday by the international cybersecurity company FireEye.
This is the first documented case of a large-scale Chinese attack on Israel. It was part of a broader campaign that targeted many other countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Thailand. FireEye has been monitoring the operation for two years.
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According to the company’s report, the Israeli targets included state bodies and as well as private organizations from the fields of shipping, high-tech, telecommunications, defense, academia and information technology.
By analyzing the hacking tools used and comparing them to similar attacks in the past, FireEye concluded that Chinese intel services and their Ministry of State Security was behind the attack.
China's cyber attack on Israel
האקר
What happened:
Massive cyberattack by China's intelligence against Israel
When:
2019-2020
Victims:
Dozens of state and private Israeli orgs - including defense bodies
What was stolen:
Data, emails and hundreds of documents
Attack's goal:
Tech theft and business intelligence
How:
Exploiting loophole in servers
IT companies were particularly sought-after targets because they are what is known as a supply chain threat – meaning that through them, the hackers can reach many other companies. The attacks were aimed at stealing know-how, commercial secrets and business intelligence.
Sanaz Yashar, who led FireEye’s investigation into Israeli targets, said that one possible factor in the attacks is China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is meant to create a continuous land and water route around the world for Chinese products. This initiative “is connected with huge infrastructure projects in which China is involved, including in Israel, like ports or railroads,” she explained.
“Another Chinese interest in Israel is its technology sector,” Yashar said. “There are a lot of Israeli companies that are involved in the very fields at the core of Chinese interests, as reflected in their five-year plans.
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“Their goal isn’t necessarily always to steal intellectual property; it’s possible that they’re actually looking for business information,” she added. “In the Chinese view, it’s legitimate to attack a company while negotiating with it, so they will know how to price the deal properly.
“When the Chinese do business, they don’t enter the contract with their eyes shut. They examine the other offers, the board of directors’ emails, correspondence among people, what the intrigues are and who the key people are.”
Yashar said the Chinese are most likely interested in know-how in fields such as cybersecurity, renewable energy, agricultural technologies and 5G communications. “Anyone who does business with China also interests them,” she added.
The hackers mainly took email correspondence and documents, Yashar said. “This attacker was specifically interested in emails, vacuuming up huge quantities of emails. We see that immediately after entering, they mapped the network and looked for document and email servers.”
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