US-controlled ‘empire of hackers’ attacking China, other countries: report
- Investigators accuse CIA of advanced spy tactics against governments, infrastructure, research institutions, and tech and oil companies since 2011
- China’s foreign ministry calls on US to stop using cyberweapons for global espionage
The report, jointly released by China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre (CVERC) and cybersecurity company 360, accused the US Central Intelligence Agency of secretly orchestrating “peaceful evolution” and “colour revolutions” around the world with the use of superior technology.
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“These cyberweapons have undergone strict, standardised, and professional software engineering management, which is uniquely followed by the CIA in developing cyberattack weapons,” the report said.
The investigators said their analysis revealed that the CIA’s cyberweapons used state-of-the-art espionage technology in attacks that were closely connected and integrated.
“Targets of these attacks include critical information infrastructure, aerospace, research institutions, oil and petrochemical industries, large internet companies, and government agencies in various countries. These attacks can be traced back to 2011 and have continued until now.”
It said the information collected from foreign governments, companies and citizens would be provided to US decision-makers for national security intelligence and security risk assessments. At the request of the US president, the CIA also carried out and supervises secret cross-border activities, the report said.
The report also said that, for decades, the CIA had overthrown or tried to overthrow more than 50 legitimate foreign governments – only seven instances of which are acknowledged by the CIA – causing turmoil in the affected countries.
While helping other nations in inciting unrest, the CIA provided various information and communication technologies and even on-site command help, the investigators said.
For example, a US military-affiliated company developed an untraceable TOR technology to help protesters in some Middle Eastern countries maintain communication and evade tracking and arrest, it said. The servers encrypted all information passing through them, ensuring anonymous internet access for specific users, according to the report.
The Rand Corporation had spent years developing “Stampede” software that helped many young people stay connected during protests, greatly improving the efficiency of on-site command, the report said.
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In recent years, Beijing has increasingly accused the United States of cyberattacks. In June 2022, China’s Northwestern Polytechnical University issued a public statement claiming it had been targeted by overseas cyberattacks.
A report by CVERC that followed in September said the US National Security Agency had carried out tens of thousands of malicious cyberattacks against Chinese targets in recent years, controlling countless network devices including servers, terminals, switches, telephone exchanges, routers and firewalls.