Forwarded from BlackBox (Security) Archiv
Attacking the Heart of the German Industry
For a number of years now, a group of professional hackers has been busy spying on businesses all over the world: Winnti. Believed to be controlled by China. For the first time, in a joint investigation, German public broadcasters BR and NDR are shedding light on how the hackers operate and how widespread they are.
This investigation starts with a code: daa0 c7cb f4f0 fbcf d6d1. If you know what to look for, you’ll find Winnti. Hackers who have been spying on businesses all over the world for years. A group, presumably China-based, has honed in on Germany and its DAX corporations. For the first time ever, BR and NDR reporters have successfully analyzed hundreds of the malware versions used for that unsavory purpose. The targets: At least six DAX corporations, the stock-listed top companies of the German industry.
Winnti is a highly complex structure that is difficult to penetrate. The term denotes both a sophisticated malware and an actual group of hackers. IT security experts like to call them digital mercenaries. Since at least 2011, these hackers have been using malware to spy on corporate networks. Their mode of operation: to collect information on the organizational charts of companies, on cooperating departments, on the IT systems of individual business units, and on trade secrets, obviously.
Asked about the group an IT security expert who has been analyzing the attacks for years replies, tongue in cheek: “Any DAX corporation that hasn’t been attacked by Winnti must have done something wrong.” A high-ranking German official says: “The numbers of cases are mind-boggling.” And claims that the group continues to be highly active—to this very day. The official’s name will remain undisclosed, as will names of the more than 30 people whom we were able to interview for this article: Company staff, IT security experts, government officials, and representatives of security authorities. They are either not willing or not allowed to speak frankly. But they are allowed to reveal some of their tactics.
This allows us to find the software and to figure out for ourselves how the attackers work. Thanks to the help received from the informers, we, the reporters, are able to get on to the group. Part of their trail is the following code: daa0 c7cb f4f0 fbcf d6d1.
👉🏼 Read the full story without ads n shit:
https://rwtxt.lelux.fi/blackbox/attacking-the-heart-of-the-german-industry
#hacker #china #winnti #attack #spionage #cyberattack #cyberspionage #BASF #Siemens #Henkel
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_DE
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_EN
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_ES
For a number of years now, a group of professional hackers has been busy spying on businesses all over the world: Winnti. Believed to be controlled by China. For the first time, in a joint investigation, German public broadcasters BR and NDR are shedding light on how the hackers operate and how widespread they are.
This investigation starts with a code: daa0 c7cb f4f0 fbcf d6d1. If you know what to look for, you’ll find Winnti. Hackers who have been spying on businesses all over the world for years. A group, presumably China-based, has honed in on Germany and its DAX corporations. For the first time ever, BR and NDR reporters have successfully analyzed hundreds of the malware versions used for that unsavory purpose. The targets: At least six DAX corporations, the stock-listed top companies of the German industry.
Winnti is a highly complex structure that is difficult to penetrate. The term denotes both a sophisticated malware and an actual group of hackers. IT security experts like to call them digital mercenaries. Since at least 2011, these hackers have been using malware to spy on corporate networks. Their mode of operation: to collect information on the organizational charts of companies, on cooperating departments, on the IT systems of individual business units, and on trade secrets, obviously.
Asked about the group an IT security expert who has been analyzing the attacks for years replies, tongue in cheek: “Any DAX corporation that hasn’t been attacked by Winnti must have done something wrong.” A high-ranking German official says: “The numbers of cases are mind-boggling.” And claims that the group continues to be highly active—to this very day. The official’s name will remain undisclosed, as will names of the more than 30 people whom we were able to interview for this article: Company staff, IT security experts, government officials, and representatives of security authorities. They are either not willing or not allowed to speak frankly. But they are allowed to reveal some of their tactics.
This allows us to find the software and to figure out for ourselves how the attackers work. Thanks to the help received from the informers, we, the reporters, are able to get on to the group. Part of their trail is the following code: daa0 c7cb f4f0 fbcf d6d1.
👉🏼 Read the full story without ads n shit:
https://rwtxt.lelux.fi/blackbox/attacking-the-heart-of-the-german-industry
#hacker #china #winnti #attack #spionage #cyberattack #cyberspionage #BASF #Siemens #Henkel
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_DE
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_EN
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_ES