Chinese Hackers Spied on Europeans before G20 Meeting: Researcher


Chinese Hackers Spied on Europeans before G20 Meeting: Researcher

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Chinese hackers eavesdropped on the computers of five European foreign ministries before last September's G20 Summit, which was dominated by the Syrian crisis, according to research by computer security firm FireEye Inc.

The hackers infiltrated the ministries' computer networks by sending emails to staff containing tainted files with titles such as "US_military_options_in_Syria," said FireEye, which sells virus fighting technology to companies. When recipients opened these documents, they loaded malicious code onto their personal computers.

For about a week in late August, California-based FireEye said its researchers were able to monitor the "inner workings" of the main computer server used by the hackers to conduct their reconnaissance and move across compromised systems, Reuters reported.

FireEye lost access to the hackers after they moved to another server shortly before the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. FireEye said it believes the hackers were preparing to start stealing data just as the researchers lost access.

The US company declined to identify the nations whose ministries were hacked, although it said they were all members of the European Union. FireEye said it reported the attacks to the victims through the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A spokeswoman for the FBI, Jenny Shearer, declined to comment.

The September 5-6 G20 summit was dominated by discussion of the Syrian crisis, with some European leaders putting pressure on US President Barack Obama to hold off on taking military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

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