Chinese Hackers Tricked Servers In Basement Of An Administrative Annex To Access Surveillance Videos From AU’s Campus In ADDIS Ababa
It has been reported that the African Union’s (AU) technology staffers have discovered a group of suspected Chinese hackers who tricked the servers in the basement of an administrative annex to access surveillance videos from AU’s campus in Addis Ababa. As reported by Reuters, a Chinese hacking group nicknamed “Bronze President,” was behind the security breach. Affected areas included “AU offices, parking areas, corridors, and meeting rooms.” According to the five-page internal memo that has been received by Reuters, the quantity and value of data stolen by these hackers have not been estimated at the moment. It also states that although the AU technicians had managed to interrupt the flow of data, it’s easy for hackers to again gain control.
The Chinese mission in an email stated that “the AU side has not mentioned being hacked on any occasion” and that Africa and China are “good friends, partners, and brothers. […] We never interfere in Africa’s internal affairs and wouldn’t do anything that harms the interests of the African side”, said the email. The report also states that both the AU and the Chinese government denied the report at the time. The security breach was discovered after a tip from Japan’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), alerted AU officials through email on Jan 17, about unusual traffic between the international organization’s network and a domain associated with Bronze President. The memo also stated that hackers were able to draw off “a huge volume of traffic” from the servers by hiding it in the regular flow of data leaving the AU’s network during business hours.
This news was originally published at Mashable