China-linked hackers used VPN flaw to target U.S. defense industry

Chinese Embassy spokeperson Liu Pengyu said China "firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyber attacks," describing FireEye's allegations as "irresponsible and ill-intentioned"

(Subscribe to our Today's Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click to subscribe for free.) At least two groups of China-linked hackers have spent months using a previously undisclosed vulnerability in American virtual private networking devices to spy on the U.S. defense industry, researchers and the devices' manufacturer said Tuesday. Utah-based IT company Ivanti said in a statement the hackers took advantage of the flaw in its Pulse Connect Secure suite to break into the systems of "a very limited number of customers."