An internal State Department document is placing an emphasis on the fact that Chinese espionage is “ongoing,” contrary to the way it has been characterized in the media.
“While media reporting has emphasized this alleged decrease in malicious activity, cases of Chinese espionage campaigns against the U.S. private sector are ongoing,” according to the document issued by the Overseas Security Advisory Council, a State Department agency that describes itself as a 34-member public-private partnership.
The report follows a June study released by cybersecurity firm FireEye finding that Chinese hackers targeting American companies had diminished in number to 13 primary entities, down from 72 in previous years.
The U.S. in September entered into a non-aggression pact with China intended to end commercial espionage. FireEye analysts said at the time that Chinese hacking had gone down as part of a broader decline over the years, and that the agreement seemed to reinforce that impression.
The State Department’s three-page report, which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, noted that the most damaging hacks took place last year. “At a higher level, paramount attacks against various U.S. organizations continued in 2015, and Chinese hackers exceeded other nation-state actors for consistency, volume and severity of cyberattacks during the past year,” the report said.
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It also noted that last year’s biggest hacks seemed geared towards obtaining personal data.
“This included intrusions into healthcare systems Anthem and Premera, and the Office of Personnel Management, collectively compromising the sensitive data of over 100 million U.S. citizens,” the document stated, “[suggesting] some China-based hacking groups may have shifted their focus from data theft for economic gain to national security interests and personally identifiable information.”
The report also called into question the efficacy of FireEye’s methods, which are based in part on studying some of the Fortune 400 companies that FireEye is contracted to defend. “China-based network intrusions are still ongoing, only a fraction of which may be detected by researchers,” the report said.
