Crossroads Blog | Institute National Security and Counterterrorism

Cyber Exploitation

Chinese Hackers Suspected in Cyber Attack On CFR: The Washington Free Beacon

The Washington Free Beacon’s Bill Gertz reports that “computer hackers traced to China carried out an advanced cyberespionage attack against” the website of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).  According to Gertz, the hackers used a “water-hole” style attack in which they infected a server hosting the website, thereby allowing the hackers to target CFR members and website visitors.  The FBI is investigating, but a CFR spokesman confirmed the attack.  Interestingly, the cyberespionage software both contained Mandarin characters and targeted CFR members “who used browsers configured for Chinese language characters.  . . .”

For what it’s worth, The Washington Free Beacon is a conservative news source, but as far as I can tell, Mr. Gertz has been reliable in his reporting.  He’s the first to report this.  I’ll be looking for further confirmation.

Leave a Reply

Bitnami