A hacker has beaten China at its own game and has stolen a massive amount of sensitive military data, which it is now selling.
The hacker was inside a Chinese supercomputer for months without being detected.
Here’s more from CNN:
A hacker has allegedly stolen a massive trove of sensitive data – including highly classified defense documents and missile schematics – from a state-run Chinese supercomputer in what could potentially constitute the largest known heist of data from China.
The dataset, which allegedly contains more than 10 petabytes of sensitive information, is believed by experts to have been obtained from the National Supercomputing Center (NSCC) in Tianjin – a centralized hub that provides infrastructure services for more than 6,000 clients across China, including advanced science and defense agencies.
Cyber experts who have spoken to the alleged hacker and reviewed samples of the stolen data they posted online say they appeared to gain entry to the massive computer with comparative ease and were able to siphon out huge amounts of data over the course of multiple months without being detected.
An account calling itself FlamingChina posted a sample of the alleged dataset on an anonymous Telegram channel on February 6, claiming it contained “research across various fields including aerospace engineering, military research, bioinformatics, fusion simulation and more.”
The group alleges the information is linked to “top organizations” including the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, and the National University of Defense Technology.
Cyber security experts who have reviewed the data say the group is offering a limited preview of the alleged dataset, for thousands of dollars, with full access priced at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Payment was requested in cryptocurrency.
CNN cannot verify the origins of the alleged dataset and the claims made by FlamingChina, but spoke with multiple experts whose initial assessment of the leak indicated it was genuine.
To put the scale in perspective: one petabyte equals 1,000 terabytes, and a high-spec laptop typically holds around one terabyte.
I would imagine the US would be first in line to pay for such intelligence, assuming they don’t have the means or the access to this data themselves.