Following up on this post about the Washington Post being hacked comes this story which indicates that China was behind the hack:
The incident marks the second known instance of Chinese hackers targeting the Washington Post. In 2013, the newspaper disclosed a breach of its technology servers and multiple systems that exposed a broad array of internal data.
Chinese state-backed cyber groups frequently target American journalists, government officials, and dissidents abroad in campaigns of espionage and transnational repression. Last year, the Department of Justice indicted seven Chinese nationals linked to a prolific group tracked as APT31 for running a 14-year cyber campaign against critics, businesses, journalists, and political figures worldwide (see: US Indicts Accused APT31 Chinese Hackers for Hire).
The group, also tracked as Judgment Panda and Violet Typhoon, is affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of State Security. The hackers impersonated prominent media outlets and journalists to send phishing emails embedded with tracking links. The links harvested data such as email open times, recipient locations, and IP addresses from their targets.
Chinese nation-state hackers have been known to target email systems. Microsoft in 2023 disclosed that Chinese hackers exploited a Microsoft Outlook token validation flaw to target governments in Europe and the United States
Christian Geyer, founder and CEO of Actfore had this comment:
“Whether it’s a missile strike on a newsroom or a cyber breach that delays critical reporting, the goal is the same…silence, intimidate, and control the narrative. With tensions rising globally, the attack on the Washington Post should be seen not just as a breach, but as a signal in a broader campaign to disrupt independent journalism.”
China is a well resourced adversary that needs a lot more attention placed on it. Because I really believe that we will see more and more attacks by them with severe consequences if we don’t act now to counter them.
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This entry was posted on June 19, 2025 at 1:15 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Hacked. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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The Washington Post Hack Appears To Have Originated From China
Following up on this post about the Washington Post being hacked comes this story which indicates that China was behind the hack:
The incident marks the second known instance of Chinese hackers targeting the Washington Post. In 2013, the newspaper disclosed a breach of its technology servers and multiple systems that exposed a broad array of internal data.
Chinese state-backed cyber groups frequently target American journalists, government officials, and dissidents abroad in campaigns of espionage and transnational repression. Last year, the Department of Justice indicted seven Chinese nationals linked to a prolific group tracked as APT31 for running a 14-year cyber campaign against critics, businesses, journalists, and political figures worldwide (see: US Indicts Accused APT31 Chinese Hackers for Hire).
The group, also tracked as Judgment Panda and Violet Typhoon, is affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of State Security. The hackers impersonated prominent media outlets and journalists to send phishing emails embedded with tracking links. The links harvested data such as email open times, recipient locations, and IP addresses from their targets.
Chinese nation-state hackers have been known to target email systems. Microsoft in 2023 disclosed that Chinese hackers exploited a Microsoft Outlook token validation flaw to target governments in Europe and the United States
Christian Geyer, founder and CEO of Actfore had this comment:
“Whether it’s a missile strike on a newsroom or a cyber breach that delays critical reporting, the goal is the same…silence, intimidate, and control the narrative. With tensions rising globally, the attack on the Washington Post should be seen not just as a breach, but as a signal in a broader campaign to disrupt independent journalism.”
China is a well resourced adversary that needs a lot more attention placed on it. Because I really believe that we will see more and more attacks by them with severe consequences if we don’t act now to counter them.
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This entry was posted on June 19, 2025 at 1:15 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Hacked. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.