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A secret NSA map shows successful Chinese attacks

The NBC News published a secret NSA map reporting the locations of “Victims of Chinese Cyber Espionage” attacks that resulted in data thefts.

The NBC News has published in exclusive a secret NSA map showing the locations of the cyber attacks carried out by Chinese hackers over a five-year period. Every marker in the secret NSA map represents a successful attack that resulted in data theft, the list of targets is long and includes private firms and US critical infrastructure.

According to the NBC’s sources, the NSA map was part of a briefing in February 2014 that was prepared by the US Intelligence.

The NSA was warning principal companies of the country, including Google and Lockheed Martin, about possible attacks of Chinese state-sponsored hackers. The US intelligence was also aware of the interest of Chinese authorities in air traffic control systems.

Chinese hackers have targeted practically every American industry, cyber espionage campaigns targeted Government Offices (i.e. State Department, OPM), media agencies and US contractors.

The map counts more than 600 cyber attacks, mainly concentrated in the major metropolitan areas and industrial hubs such as the Silicon Valley.

“The map uses red dots to mark more than 600 corporate, private or government “Victims of Chinese Cyber Espionage” that were attacked over a five-year period, with clusters in America’s industrial centers. The entire Northeast Corridor from Washington to Boston is blanketed in red, as is California’s Silicon Valley, with other concentrations in Dallas, Miami, Chicago, Seattle, L.A. and Detroit. The highest number of attacks was in California, which had almost 50.” states the NBC News.

The greatest number of cyber attacks was concentrated in California, the map reports nearly 50 successful cyber assaults.

The NBC News speculate that the NSA is able to track Chinese cyber espionage campaigns and knows exactly which companies were targeted by the foreign hackers.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – NSA map, China)

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.