FBI Points Fingers at China, Warns U.S. Enterprises of Cyber-Attacks

The Federal Bureau of Investigation blames China for hackings targeting U.S. companies, and warns enterprises to stay on guard to prevent future breaches, according to Reuters.

The agency said it recently got information regarding a group of Chinese cyber-actors affiliated to the Beijing government, who are regularly stealing “high-value information from U.S. commercial and government networks through cyber espionage.”

“The FBI has recently observed online intrusions that we attribute to Chinese government affiliated actors,” FBI representatives said. “Private sector security firms have also identified similar intrusions and have released defensive information related to those intrusions.”

The bureau also described the tools and techniques used by the hackers, and asked companies to contact federal authorities if they suspect they are victims of cyber-attacks.

The Chinese embassy in Washington asked the U.S. to stop this kind of “unfounded accusation.”

“I`m not aware of the investigation by the U.S. FBI,” Chinese embassy representative Geng Shuang told Reuters. “Judging from past experience, conclusions of this kind of investigations are usually lacking in provable facts and hard evidence.”

Rumors of cyber-attacks backed by the Beijing government are nothing new. In May this year, the U.S. even named five Chinese military officers, who allegedly breached into American firms in an eight-year hacking campaign, to steal sensitive information. On the other side, a report released this week showed the NSA physically infiltrated communication companies from China, Germany and South Korea during the agency`s “physical subversion” program.

A survey issued today by the Ponemon Institute showed that cyber-crime costs are escalating, while attacks are becoming more advanced and hard to solve. The study on 59 US firms found the average annual cost of responding to cyber-attacks was $12.7 million, up 96 per cent over the previous five years.