Hackers for hire: Group in China linked to big cyber attacks
Symantec researchers say Hidden Lynx very likely based in China
Researchers have discovered a group of highly sophisticated hackers operating for hire out of China, a US computer security company said on Tuesday, and it linked them to some of the best-known espionage attacks in recent years.
Symantec said the group, which it dubbed “Hidden Lynx,” was among the most technically advanced of several dozen believed to be running cyber espionage operations out of China. Unlike a previous report by another company, Symantec did not accuse the Chinese government of involvement in the cyber attacks.
Symantec’s 28-page report described Hidden Lynx as a “professional organisation” staffed by between 50 and 100 people with a variety of skills needed to breach networks and steal information, including valuable corporate secrets.
The company said its researchers believed Hidden Lynx might have been involved with the 2009 Operation Aurora attacks, the most well-known cyber espionage campaign uncovered to date against US companies.
In Operation Aurora, hackers attacked Google, Adobe Systems and dozens of other companies. Google in January 2010 disclosed the attacks, in which hackers tried to read Gmail communications of human rights activists and to access and change source code at targeted companies.