A new report from a Beijing-based cybersecurity firm said hackers linked with the U.S. National Security Agency were found to have inserted “covert backdoors” that may have given them access to sensitive information in dozens of countries including Russia, China and Japan, India.
India’s top microbial research labs, the Institute of Microbial Technology under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, as well as the Indian Academy of Sciences in Bengaluru and Banaras Hindu University are among the reportedly compromised websites listed in the report.
The report listed dozens of sites — many universities and scientific research institutes — that had reportedly been compromised in countries, including both U.S. adversaries and allies and partners, ranging from India and Japan to China and Russia.
The report, which explained the technicalities of how the backdoor worked, said this was “a backdoor communication technology that has never been seen before, implying an organisation with strong technical capabilities behind it.” This report is being framed by the Chinese media as a contradiction to U.S. allegations of Chinese cyber hacking.
The Union Power Ministry said last year that “state-sponsored” Chinese hacker groups had targeted various Indian power centres but added that the groups have been thwarted after government cyber agencies warned about their activities.
