Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached TeamViewer in 2016

The German newspaper Der Spiegel revealed that the software company behind TeamViewer was compromised in 2016 by Chinese hackers.

China-linked hackers breached German software company behind TeamViewer in 2016, this news was reported by the German newspaper Der Spiegel

According to the media outlet, Chinese state-sponsored hackers used the
Winnti trojan malware to infect the systems of the Company.

The Winnti group was first spotted by Kaspersky in 2013, according to the researchers the gang has been active since 2007.

The gang is financially-motivated and was mostly involved in cyber espionage campaigns.  The hackers were known for targeting companies in the online gaming industry, the majority of the victims is located in Southeast Asia.

The Winnti cyberespionage group is known for its ability in targeting supply chains of legitimate software to spread malware.

According to the company, it was targeted by the hackers in autumn 2016, when its experts detected suspicious activities were quickly blocked them to prevent major damages.

TeamViewer spokesperson revealed that the company investigated the attempts of intrusion, but did not find any evidence of exposure for customer data and sensitive data.

Der Spiegel pointed out that TeamViewer did not disclose the security breach to the public.

“In autumn 2016, TeamViewer was target of a cyber-attack. Our systems detected the suspicious activities in time to prevent any major damage. An expert team of internal and external cyber security researchers, working together closely with the responsible authorities, successfully fended off the attack and with all available means of IT forensics found no evidence that customer data or other sensitive information had been stolen, that customer computer systems had been infected or that the TeamViewer source code had been manipulated, stolen or misused in any other way.” said company spokesman.

“Out of an abundance of caution, TeamViewer conducted a comprehensive audit of its security architecture and IT infrastructure subsequently and further strengthened it with appropriate measures.”

At the time the company published a statement to exclude it was breached by hackers:

“Göppingen/Germany, May 23, 2016. A recent article warns, “TeamViewer users have had their bank accounts emptied by hackers gaining full-system access”. TeamViewer is appalled by any criminal activity; however, the source of the problem, according to our research, is careless use, not a potential security breach on TeamViewer’s side.” wrote the company.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – TeamViewer, hacking)

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