Security News > 2021 > March > McAfee uncovers espionage campaign aimed at major telecommunication companies
The McAfee Advanced Threat Research Strategic Intelligence team has identified an espionage campaign that is specifically targeting telecommunication companies in an attack dubbed "Operation Diànxùn." McAfee researchers Thomas Roccia, Thibault Seret and John Fokker said in a blog post that the malware is using tactics similar to those seen from groups like RedDelta and Mustang Panda.
Cybersecurity companies Intsights and Positive Technologies both identified Mustang Panda last year as an advanced persistent threat group behind a number of COVID-19-themed attacks on people in Vietnam and Mongolia.
Now, the group-which is believed to be based in China-is going after the telecom sector, and McAfee researchers wrote that they believe the attack is related to the ban of Chinese technology in the global 5G rollout.
According to McAfee's research, the targets for the attacks are based in the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia, with a specific focus on German and Vietnamese telecommunication companies.
Former President Donald Trump and his administration pressed other countries through a series of bilateral declarations to avoid hiring Chinese companies for 5G systems, sparking outrage from the Chinese government, who accused the US and Europe of rigging the free market in favor of companies based in their own countries.
"In this report we have brought to light a recent espionage operation allegedly attributed to a Chinese APT group. Regarding the targeted sector, we believe that this campaign was used to access sensitive data and to spy on companies related to 5G technology. Additionally, the use of a fake Huawei website gives more clues about the telecom targets," the report said.