China syndromeChina-Backed Hackers Target Biden Campaign in Early Sign of 2020 Election Interference
Google announced earlier this month that Chinese-backed hackers were observed targeting former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign staff. Google said that hackers did not appear to compromise the campaign’s security, but the surveillance was a reminder of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Google announced earlier this month that Chinese-backed hackers were observed targeting former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign staff.
The internet giant said that hackers did not appear to compromise the campaign’s security, but the surveillance was a reminder of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Analysts say China’s primary motive for breaking into a campaign is to collect intelligence such as Biden’s proposals for U.S. policy on China, although hackers could later try to use stolen intelligence to interfere in the campaign itself.
APT31
Shane Huntley, director of Google’s Threat Analysis Group twittered on June 4 that the company has discovered a “China APT group targeting Biden campaign staff with phishing,” but there was “no sign of compromise.”
The group Google discovered is called APT31. APT is an acronym for “advanced persistent threat” usually from a group that has the backing of, and direction from, an established nation state.
According to ZDNet, a tech trade publication, APT31 “also known as Zirconium, is a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group that has been active since at least early 2016, and has historically targeted foreign companies to steal intellectual property, however, it has also targeted diplomatic entities in the past.”
“This group, APT31 that we’ve tracked for awhile, [is] a group that we’ve seen involved in what we believe is strategic intelligence collection for things of interest to the Chinese government,” said Luke McNamara, a principal analyst with cybersecurity firm FireEye Intelligence.
Biden’s campaign issued a statement that it has “known from the beginning that the campaign would be subject to such attacks” and the campaign will ensure that its assets are secure.
An official at the U.S. government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told VOA they have shared the information with congressional campaigns and state and local election officials to better prepare them for attacks.
“Google’s announcement shows that secure, resilient elections are much bigger than state and local, or even federal government efforts. The private sector has a key role, as does the American voter,” the official said in an email response.
Spying or Interfering?
This is not the first time that Chinese hackers have been accused of targeting a U.S. presidential campaign team.
