Cybersecurity breach exposes Chinese firm Knownsec's government

According to HackRead, a significant data leak has affected the Chinese security firm Knownsec, revealing over 12,000 secret files on GitHub and shedding light on China's government-backed hacking tools and operations.

Knownsec, a prominent player in China's cybersecurity realm, was involved in building "cyber weapons" and maintaining a list of international targets. The leaked files unveiled extensive spying activities on over 20 countries, including critical infrastructure entities like telecommunications companies. The breach exposed stolen data such as 95 GB of Indian immigration records, 3 TB of South Korean call logs, and 459 GB of transport data from Taiwan. Additionally, the revealed hacking tools included remote access trojans (RATs) and specialized tools for extracting data from Android phones discreetly.

While the Chinese government denied knowledge of the breach, the leak raises concerns the involvement of private companies in state-backed cyber intelligence work.