Chinese Hackers Target Japan with Over 200 Cyberattacks Since 2019
Japan has accused Chinese cyber espionage group MirrorFace of orchestrating 210 cyberattacks since December 2019, targeting sensitive government and corporate data related to national security and advanced technology.
Japan says Chinese military likely behind cyberattacks, with the National Police Agency (NPA), blaming MirrorFace for its affiliations with China’s intelligence apparatus. The attacks zeroing in on Japan’s critical aerospace, defense, and technology sectors.
The attacks consistently targeted organizations such as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Japanese Defense Ministry via malware-laced emails disguised as legitimate emails to exploit system vulnerabilities. These revelations point to the ever-growing cyber threat landscape, demanding urgent action from Japan’s public and private sectors.
Recent Chinese Cyberattacks
MirrorFace targeted the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Defense Ministry, the National Security Secretariat, and members of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to government sources.
Since December 2019, the alleged Chinese cyberattacks targeting group sent malware-laden emails to 173 individuals and entities, often impersonating experts or former executives of target institutions, according to the NPA. The emails featured provocative subject lines such as “Taiwan Strait” and “Japan-US alliance.”
By February 2023, the advanced Chinese cyber-espionage campaignhas become more aggressive and tend to leverage these VPN vulnerabilities against 37 companies and organizations in semiconductors, electronic communications, and the aerospace industries.
Most of the Chinese cyber espionage acts do not have confirmed data leakage, though several of these have been attributed to accessing or stealing information from the device or network users. The source code contains simplified Chinese characters and refers to entities in China.
Government Response and Cyber Threats
The NPA described the attacks as “a series of targeted operations, which can be expected to be related” to the Chinese government, adding they “urge people to exercise caution with suspicious emails and call on companies to enhance their monitoring of communication records.”
In the past five years, Japan was weighed down by a number of cases of cyberattack incidents, including the Mitsubishi Electric breach in 2020, and the JAXA in 2016 and 2017, attributed to another Chinese government cyber espionage group. In 2022, a North Korea-based group $304.9 million (¥48.2 billion) of bitcoins from a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange.
How can the US best combat Chinese cyber espionage? Well, the US government could take inspiration from Japan’s approach. The Japanese government intends to establish an active cyber defense mechanism, with a bill to toughen up key infrastructure set to be submitted to the Diet on January 24.
Events of the character described point to one thing: there is a greater need for vigilance and robust cybersecurity measures against Chinese cyber espionage groups and others in times when nation-state cyber threats are only just emerging.
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