This leak gives cybersecurity researchers and rival governments an unprecedented chance to look behind the curtain of Chinese government hacking operations facilitated by private contractors.
Like the hack-and-leak operation that targeted the Italian spyware maker Hacking Team in 2015, the I-Soon leak includes company documents and internal communications, which show I-Soon was allegedly involved in hacking companies and government agencies in India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Taiwan and Thailand, among others.
The leaked files were posted to code-sharing site GitHub on Friday. Since then, observers of Chinese hacking operations have feverishly poured over the files.
The leaked files were posted to code-sharing site GitHub on Friday. Since then, observers of Chinese hacking operations have feverishly poured over the files.
“This represents the most significant leak of data linked to a company suspected of providing cyber espionage and targeted intrusion services for the Chinese security services,” said Jon Condra, a threat intelligence analyst at cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
For John Hultquist, the chief analyst at Google-owned Mandiant, this leak is “narrow, but it is deep,” he said. “We rarely get such unfettered access to the inner workings of any intelligence operation.”
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