Hacking Against the United States is Traced to a Chinese Army Unit
The specificity of a new report is likely to inflame discussion of the threat posed to multinational corporations by state-sponsored hackers in China.
This building on the outskirts of Shanghai is the home of Unit 61398 of the Chinese military, which is responsible for the preponderance of digital espionage against American companies and the US government, according to a report just released by the computer security firm Mandiant.
The specificity of the report—and its treatment in a lengthy front-page article in the New York Times—is likely to inflame discussion of the threat posed to multinational corporations by state-sponsored hackers in China. Mandiant said Unit 61398, sometimes known in the US as “Comment Crew,” was responsible for attacks on at least 141 companies. Previous reports have identified Coca-Cola, Halliburton, and the European Union as among the victims of Comment Crew.