Global Threat of Chinese Hacking Revealed in Leaked Reports

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(TargetDailyNews.com) – A new document leak suggests that China has been outsourcing hacking of its enemies to third-party companies in the communist country. The leak was posted to GitHub on Saturday, February 17th containing a treasure trove of emails, power points, and other documentary evidence. GitHub removed the documents and took them down on February 22nd citing a violation of their internal policy.

Biden administration officials are reviewing the leak and have yet to issue an official comment. The information originated from I-Soon, a tech firm in China, and the documents suggest that the firm has hacked a range of China’s targets including political groups run by Tibetan exiles, hospitals in India and Taiwan, as well as some universities in Hong Kong after students began pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Clients for the firm include Chinese police and military service branches. A spreadsheet in the document leak suggested that 183 contracts existed between the firm and Chinese government agencies from 2016 through 2022.

FBI investigator Adam Kozy said that the leak was increasing visibility into China’s hacking programs.

Chinese Embassy representative Liu Pengyu denied specific knowledge about the leak, and said that China opposes any denigration or slander against the communist country in response to an emailed request for comment by CNN. Liu called the claim that China regularly surveils dissidents overseas “completely fabricated,” while simultaneously suggesting China is regularly a victim of cyberattacks. Liu added that China doesn’t “encourage, support or condone” cybercrime, including hacking.

I-Soon representatives, including its CEO, have not issued public comments on the matter.

The news comes as tensions are heating up between the U.S. and China. FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that Chinese hackers have penetrated American infrastructure and could wreak havoc should China decide to invade Taiwan, as a distraction.

CNN’s experts said that the leak featured telecom companies across multiple countries, and I-Soon’s work seemed to be focused on electronic espionage targeting Asian nations.