Report: Chinese Spies Stole NSA Hacking Tools
A NEW REPORT FINDS CHINESE HACKERS USED NSA HACKING TOOLS TO CARRY OUT CYBERATTACKS
(CNN) – North Korea, Russia and now China.
Security experts say state hackers from all three countries have used the same tool to carry out cyberattacks.
A tool created by the U.S. government.
It’s called Eternalblue and it was built by the National Security Agency.
At first, it was a reliable tool used in countless intelligence-gathering and counterterrorism missions. But it was dumped online by a still-unidentified group calling itself the shadow brokers and picked up by hackers.
Until now, experts only knew about North Korea and Russia, but a new report from cybersecurity company Symantec says hackers with Chinese government intelligence got ahold of Eternalblue too.
It’s been used to spread malware that has paralyzed hospitals, airports, rail and shipping operators, ATM’s and factories that produce critical vaccines.
Now it’s hitting local U.S. governments.
On May 7th, Baltimore was hit with a cyberattack by digital extortionists that froze thousands of computers, shut down email and disrupted real estate sales, water bills, health alerts just to name a few.
But security experts say that might not be the only city at risk.
The New York Times reports cybercriminals are zeroing in on American towns and cities from Pennsylvania to Texas; paralyzing local governments and driving up costs.
The NSA did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Gloss