BEIJING: The United States National Security Agency gained access to China’s telecommunications networks and made inquiries about a number of people with sensitive backgrounds, leading to some of their information being leaked, according to an investigation report on a cyberattack at a prominent Chinese public research university.
On June 22, Northwestern Polytechnical University, in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, which is known for its education and research programs in aeronautics, astronautics and marine technology engineering, announced that overseas hackers had been caught sending phishing emails with Trojan horse programs to teachers and students at the university in an attempt to steal their data and personal information.
The report, released on Tuesday, said that while retracing the technical features, attack weapons and paths used in the NSA cyberattack on Northwestern Polytechnical University, analysts discovered that the NSA’s Office of Tailored Access Operation had infiltrated the networks of at least two telecommunication operators in China and built a “legitimate” channel for remote access to the core data.
The office then made inquiries about a number of people with sensitive backgrounds. Some of their information was sent back to the NSA headquarters via multiple jump servers, according to the report released by China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and internet security company 360.
–The Daily Mail-China
Daily news exchange item
