Chinese hackers are being blamed by security researchers in the United States for a handful of assaults waged against American computer networks in the wake of a cyber agreement reached between the two nations.
Security technology company CrowdStrike said Monday that corporate computer targets in the U.S. continue to be hit by cyberattacks attributed to China despite a deal reached last month between President Obama and his Chinese counterpart.
One day after Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Mr. Obama at the White House, “China-affiliated actors” infiltrated the computer system of an unnamed American corporation, CrowdStrike said in a blog post.
The breach was stopped before any data could be pilfered, “but the very fact that these attempts occurred highlights the need to remain vigilant despite the newly minted Cyber agreement,” CrowdStrike said.
The California-based firm declined to name any of the targeted networks, but said that seven of the affected systems pertaining to the tech and pharmaceuticals sectors, “where the primary benefit of the intrusions seems clearly aligned to facilitate theft of intellectual property and trade secrets, rather than to conduct traditional national security-related intelligence collection which the cyber agreement does not prohibit.”
White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Monday afternoon: “President Obama made clear that the United States would judge China not based on its words, not based on any verbal commitments, but based on its actions. And so you can rest assured that the relevant agencies in the United States government are closely monitoring China’s actions in this regard. This is obviously a priority, and it is something that the United States government follows closely.”
The attacks began within hours of a Sept. 25 meeting in D.C. during which Mr. Xi and Mr. Obama announced that the two nations had agreed that neither government would knowingly support any sort of campaign involving the cybertheft of corporate secrets or business details.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told lawmakers he was not confident the agreement would stymie cyberattacks.
“We’ve seen no change in behavior,” CrowdStrike founder Dmitri Alperovich told CNBC this week.
A senior U.S. official told Reuters Monday that the government was aware of the contents of the CrowdStrike report.
“As we move forward, we will monitor China’s cyber activities closely and press China to abide by all of its commitments,” the official said.
• Dave Boyer contributed to this report.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.