Chinese hackers are targeting organisations in India to glean strategic and commercially sensitive material, according to a leading cyber security specialist, in a move likely to deepen tensions between Asia’s two largest emerging economies.
FireEye, a US network security company, on Friday released information identifying an unnamed group it said was “almost certainly” based in China that has attacked more than 70 institutions in India in recent years using a script called “watermain”. Information on India-based activists working on issues linked to the disputed Chinese region of Tibet was also among the material targeted.
Although Chinese-backed groups are better known for attacking the US — including a suspected recent data theft from the government’s human resources arm — the news India is also being targeted underlines the extent to which China’s hackers are now a concern for nations across Asia.