Chemicals and defense companies run by hacking attack

Chemicals and defense companies run by hacking attack
At least 29 companies involved in the chemical industry were the subject of a recent series of cyber attacks originated in China, according to Symantec.

The security company said it had evidence by 19 companies, including defense specialists, had also been affected.

He said the attacks began in late July and lasted until mid-September.

Symantec said the campaign focused on intellectual property, including formulas and design processes.

While the report did not disclose the names of any of the companies involved, is said to include Fortune 100 companies.

It was revealed that at least 12 infected companies were based on the U.S., five in the UK, and two in Denmark.

Several companies are also said to have developed materials for military vehicles.

U.S. Dow Chemicals giant confirmed to the BBC he had been the target of "e-mails unusual" received during the summer.

"Dow responders involved internal and external, including law enforcement, to address the situation," he said. "As a result, we have no reason to believe that our operations were compromised."
Trojans

Symantec said the workers in organizations sent emails asking to open an attachment.

He said that in some cases states that invitations established business partners, in others, a security update.

The firm said that if the attachment is opened installed a piece of code known as a Trojan horse that allowed hackers to obtain details of the computer networks of whites. The attackers were able to use this information to locate and copy the files to another part of their target systems, where they were extracted.

Unfortunately, this is normal behavior become again "
Greg Day
Symantec CTO

Symantec identified the Trojan participate as PoisonIvy, which he said was developed by a Chinese speaker.

The firm also said it had traced the attacks to a "20-something man, located in the region of Hebei in China", which channels the process through a U.S. computer server.

Symantec said that when asked, the man always contact details of someone who would "make hacking for hire". However, the company was unable to determine whether it is the same person or different person.

The incidents are linked to previous attacks on automakers and human rights organizations.

"Unfortunately, this behavior is to become normal again," said Symantec's chief technology officer, Greg Day, the BBC.

"We had at least a decade of computer crime, which usually led to anyone. Then we had the emergence of highly skilled techniques that require much time and effort to the goal of global organizations."

"What we have now is about the marketing of these techniques, using items such as advanced persistent threats to prosecute espionage and theft of intellectual property, whether for their own benefit or for resale."
Chemicals and defense companies run by hacking attack