By Al-Fassel | 2024-06-21

Chinese hackers have compromised the Egyptian government on behalf of Beijing, along with more than a dozen other governments, cybersecurity firms warned, noting that even China's allies are not immune to the intrusions.

Chinese hacking groups are increasingly threatening governmental and political entities in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the West, according to intelligence officials and cybersecurity researchers.

A Chinese advanced persistent threat (APT) group has been conducting an ongoing campaign since at least late 2022, Unit 42, a team of cybersecurity experts, reported May 23.

Targets include diplomatic and economic missions, embassies, military operations, political meetings, ministries of targeted countries and high-ranking officials, it said.

"The tactics observed ... show the extent to which Chinese state-aligned threat actors attempt to gather information about affairs beyond the Asian region, even extending into the Middle East and Africa," it said.

A trove of leaked documents from Chinese cybersecurity firm I-Soon shows its hackers compromised more than a dozen governments on behalf of Beijing, according to several cybersecurity firms.

The company was involved in the theft of terabytes of data from multiple countries, including Egypt, SOC Radar reported February 22.

Hackers also targeted Afghanistan, Burma, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Türkiye and Vietnam.

The list indicates that even countries considered close diplomatic partners of China are not immune to the intrusions.

Egypt is a key hub of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), for example, and has been on the receiving end of Chinese investment, as Beijing seeks a path for its goods to flow into European and African markets.

Hybrid threat

Beijing has been linked to 90 cyber espionage campaigns since 2000 -- 30% more than Russia, Center for Strategic and International Studies senior fellow Benjamin Jensen told the US Congress last year.

The United States has been working to identify and dismantle state-sponsored hacking groups, and has warned that China represents "the broadest, most active and persistent cyber espionage threat."

US authorities on January 31 said they dismantled a network of hackers known as Volt Typhoon, which was targeting key public sector infrastructure such as water treatment plants and transportation systems at the behest of China.

The Chinese government poses a hybrid threat -- including crime, counterintelligence and cybersecurity -- to US national and economic security, US Federal Bureau of Investigation director Christopher Wray said April 18.

China "has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage," he said.