Cybercriminals attack Hewlett Packard and IBM networks and servers

Accusations against Chinese intelligence agencies continue

According to cybersecurity and ethical hacking experts from the International Institute of Cyber Security, alleged Chinese cybercriminals for-hire compromised the networks of Hewlett Packard and IBM enterprises, thus illegally accessing multiple customer devices of both companies.

IBM argues that, so far, it has no evidence to claim that a users’ personal information has been compromised. On the other hand, HP has refused to make any comments regarding these accusations.

This cyberattack campaign mentioned by the cybersecurity experts might be related in some way to the malicious campaigns sponsored by the Chinese government, according to the member countries of the Five Eyes group (United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand).

Recently, U.S. secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security officer Kirstjen Nielsen made a ‘serious calling’ to the Chinese government to “act responsibly after the detection of a broad campaign of cyberattacks against intellectual property and sensitive trade data on American territory, in addition to Europe and several parts of Asia”.

A few weeks ago, U.S. prosecutors formally charged two Chinese citizens, allegedly linked to an Asian espionage agency, pointing them as guilty of crimes such as espionage, theft of confidential data from the U.S. government and different companies around the world. In American territory, Chinese spies would have attacked NASA, the Navy, and the Department of Energy, as the experts in cybersecurity reported.

The two Chinese citizens, now accused of “conspiring to commit computer crimes against dozens of organizations in the United States and the rest of the world”, would be related to the Intelligence division of the Ministry of State Security of China, according to the U.S. Federal agencies.

FBI director Chris Wray recently stated: “There is no organization that represents a more severe threat to our economy and our computer systems than the Chinese government”. According to Wray, the Chinese government’s goal is to surpass America as a “world-leading superpower” at any costs. The Chinese government has already spoken out to deny the accusations of the U.S. authorities. According to various international media, China has described these allegations as “defamatory”, proceeding to file a new complaint against the U.S. government, the same measure that China adopted just a couple of months ago, due to the boycott against Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE, driven by the United States and its allies.