Agencies warn of Chinese government-linked cyber actors using hacking tools to steal sensitive data

A joint advisory released Oct. 8 by U.S. and international agencies warns of Chinese government-linked cyber threat actors using automated and hands-on hacking tools to steal sensitive data from critical infrastructure organizations, including healthcare, across the U.S. and abroad. The advisory said that the threat actors are enabled by the Integrity Technology Group, a China-based company with links to the Chinese government. The agencies said the threat actors are using automated scanning tools, large-scale botnets and hands-on exploitation techniques to attack Microsoft Exchange servers and virtual private network software. The advisory includes recommendations to help mitigate risk from potential attacks. 

For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact John Riggi, AHA national advisor for cybersecurity and risk, at jriggi@aha.org, or Scott Gee, AHA deputy national advisor for cybersecurity and risk, at sgee@aha.org. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit aha.org/cybersecurity.