Maharashtra Cyber Department records over 40\,000 hacking attempts from China-based threat actors: Report

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Maharashtra Cyber Department records over 40,000 hacking attempts from China-based threat actors: Report

Mumbai | Updated on June 24, 2020 Published on June 24, 2020

Representative image of computer hacking   -  REUTERS

China-based threat actors have recently attempted over 40,000 cyber-attacks in India according to an advisory issued by the Maharashtra Cyber Department.

The Maharashtra Cyber department in an advisory regarding "Chinese cyber attackers planning a large scale phishing attack" stated that it had traced over 40,000 cyber-attacks attempted in the past five days which can be traced back to Chengu in China as per reports.

Chinese threat actors are targeting various sectors in India including infrastructure, information and banking.

The recent surge in hacking attempts comes in light of the increasing border tension between the two countries leading to violent clashes between armed forces in the Galwan valley last week.

At least 40,300 cyber attacks had been attempted in a period of five days following the clashes, a majority of them having originated from Chengdu, the capital city of China’s Sichuan province, News18 reported.

Last week, a cybersecurity firm Cyfirma had warned against a potential cyberattack from hacking groups in China in retaliation for border tension between India and China earlier this week, LiveMint had reported.

The firm had gathered information based on conversations happening on the dark web.

Cyfirma had observed conversations on Chinese hacker forums in Mandarin and Cantonese about “teaching a lesson to India.” The conversations had named several media houses that have been critical of the Chinse Army apart from other major Indian companies and several government agencies.

The firm had traced the list back to their sources and found links to two hacking groups, Gothic Panda and Stone Panda that are known to have a direct affiliation to PLA (People’s Liberation Army), as per the report.

Published on June 24, 2020

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