Chinese hackers have stolen 100 GB of immigration data of India

According to a recent Washington Post, the Chinese hackers are carrying out large-scale systematic cyber intrusions against foreign governments and companies including India. the leaked documents revealed a concerning situation involving the alleged access of 95.2 GB of Indian immigration data by Chinese intelligence and cyber-surveillance units.

A number of Chinese firms are hacking data from other countries and supplying it to the country's government, including Indian data too. Other targeted countries include Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, the United Kingdom, Nepal, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, among others.

The report says, that a trove of leaked documents from a “Chinese state-linked hacking group shows that Beijing’s intelligence and military groups are carrying out large-scale, systematic cyber intrusions against foreign governments, companies and infrastructure — exploiting what the hackers claim are vulnerabilities in software systems from companies including Microsoft, Apple and Google”.

“The cache — containing more than 570 files, images and chat logs — offers an unprecedented look inside the operations of one of the firms that Chinese government agencies hire for on-demand, mass data-collecting operations,” it said.

The report further says that, files — posted to GitHub last week and deemed credible by cybersecurity experts, although the source remains unknown — detail contracts to extract foreign data over eight years and describe targets within at least 20 foreign governments

The documents come from iSoon, also known as Auxun, a Chinese firm headquartered in Shanghai that sells third-party hacking and data-gathering services to Chinese government bureaus, security groups and state-owned enterprises.

The group also targeted other telecommunications firms in Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal and Taiwan.

US intelligence officials have expressed concern about China's targeted hacking campaigns and believe that it poses the biggest long-term threat to US security. Similarly, New Delhi has also used coercion to block Chinese mobile applications, claiming Beijing may be monitoring these apps.