Beijing-backed Hackers Reportedly Attacked ASEAN Countries in February 2022–Organized Theft?

Chinese state-sponsored hackers are currently spread all over the world to steal confidential information from their victims.

As the United States competes with China when it comes to tech supremacy, weapon advancement, and infrastructure, there's bigger trouble surrounding that needs to be addressed: the hacking spree in Southeast Asian countries.

China-backed Hackers are Stealing Hacking ASEAN Countries

According to a report by Wired, Chinese cybercriminals have been launching cyber espionage for some time in some countries in Southeast Asia.

The group, which is reportedly supported by Beijing, has carried out attacks on neighboring nations affiliated with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The report says that a widespread hacking of mail servers has been attributed to the notorious gang of Chinese hackers.

In February 2022, the group had compromised 10 ASEAN members where they stole millions of data containing information about the economy and politics.

It should be noted that this is not the first time that Southeast Asian countries were under attack by China-linked hackers. The group had been launching an all-out hacking campaign in the region since 2019, according to the cybersecurity document.

The alert says that the attackers were able to get over 10,000 emails which are said to exceed 30 GB. Additionally, the authorities alerted the governmental organizations and cybersecurity agencies of the 10 ASEAN countries about this case.

Organized Cyber Attack

According to Scot Marciel, a former US ambassador to Myanmar and Indonesia, the voice of ASEAN members should be amplified to address the issue.

While the organization has been discussing matters about geopolitics, they should further talk about the potential reasons why Beijing is pursuing an interest in their lands.

Cybersecurity experts suggest that Southeast Asian countries should improve their remote monitoring of email credentials to safeguard their files against hacking schemes.

The alert also urges them to reset their credentials to minimize cyberattacks in the affected nations.

It's interesting why China is heavily investing in its infrastructure across Southeast Asia where in fact it can establish more projects in other regions.

"Efforts to deepen positive relations are quite often offset by the Chinese government's approach to securitize everything," SOAS University of London's China Institute researcher Olivia Cheung said.

With that in mind, China is slowly building its foundation so it could easily gain access to the resources of ASEAN members such as Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

In 2021, state-sponsored threat actors have been linked to China. At that time, Recorded Future noted that 400 servers have been infected by malware in the region.

Chinese Hackers on the Rise Outside SEA

Outside Southeast Asia, Chinese hackers also hit South American diplomatic organizations with ShadowPad trojan, a controversial malware tool, per The Hacker News.

In April 2022, some Chinese cybercriminals spread malware via VLC Media player, one of the most popular video players. Tech Times wrote in its report that the hacking campaign on the app started back in mid-2021