Security News > 2023 > May > China labels USA 'Empire of hacking' based on old Wikileaks dumps

The National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center of China and local infosec outfit 360 Total Security have conducted an investigation called "The Matrix" that found the CIA conducts offensive cyber ops, and labelled the United States an "Empire of Hacking".

The two orgs have been good enough to publish the first part of their work, titled Empire of Hacking: The US Central Intelligence Agency - Part I. The document doesn't offer much new info, leaning heavily on the 2017 infodump from WikiLeaks that detailed the "Vault7" trove of exploits the CIA uses to spy on computers, smart TVs, WhatsApp and just about any other device or service you might use.

The publication of the investigation was noticed by China's state-controlled news agency Xinhua and by the nation's foreign ministry.

The US has been saying the same thing about China for years.

FBI director Christopher Wray last week claimed China has 50 offensive infosec operatives for every defender his agency can muster and operates "a bigger hacking program than every other major nation combined and have stolen more of our personal and corporate data than all other nations big or small combined."

So the dance continues: nobody expects either nation will stop using cyber tools to find cracks in the other's defences, or information that informs their national security and industrial efforts.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/05/05/china_labels_us_hacking_empire/