Cyber Espionage in Advance of U.S.-China Summit? Fidelis Threat Team Investigates

Fidelis Cybersecurity published its findings that Chinese threat actors associated with or sponsored by the Chinese Government targeted a prominent U.S. trade policy group in advance of President Trump’s first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is occurring today and tomorrow at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

Fidelis has dubbed the discovery ‘Operation TradeSecret’. Fidelis’ research has also found that a similar threat campaign was conducted involving a site masquerading as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

Fidelis Cybersecurity Vice President of Threat Research Hardik Modi says, “The findings of potential cyber espionage occurring in trade discussions between the U.S. and China is certainly significant.  The motive is most likely to be intelligence collection and although its impossible to determine specifically how this information will be used, it could empower the Chinese Government to steer negotiations in its favor.”

“The information accessed by the threat actors, coupled with targeted phishing campaigns, could be used to prepare the Chinese President for today’s discussions,” Modi continued. “This is exactly why those in sensitive positions, including individuals from the private sector, need to stay vigilant and preferably employ best-of-breed threat protection.”

For updates and breaking news, follow Fidelis Cybersecurity on Twitter @FidelisCyber and on LinkedIn.

About Fidelis Cybersecurity
We prevent intrusions. And we do it relentlessly. Whether attackers are trying to gain a foothold in your network or accessing sensitive data on your laptops and servers, Fidelis detects it. Then, we tell you everything you need to find them and stop them in minutes (not days or weeks). We call it next generation intrusion prevention. And we’re the first and only company to deliver it from the cloud. It’s why 40% of the world’s most valuable brands rely on Fidelis to protect their most valuable assets. To learn more about our products and incident response services, visit fidelissecurity.com and follow us on Twitter @FidelisCyber.

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About Fidelis Cybersecurity

Fidelis Cybersecurity combats the full spectrum of cyber-crime, data theft and espionage. A leading provider of threat detection, hunting and response solutions, Fidelis provides full visibility across hybrid environments, automates threat and data theft detection, empowers threat hunting, and optimizes incident response with context, speed and accuracy. Fidelis is trusted by Global 1000s and Governments as their last line of defense.

The Fidelis Elevate® platform captures rich metadata from across the threat landscape and combines that content to enable real-time and retrospective analysis, giving security teams the platform to effectively hunt for threats in their environment.

For more information go to www.fidelissecurity.com. Fidelis Cybersecurity is a portfolio company of Skyview Capital.