Chinese Hackers Used Cyber-disguising Technology Against Israel, Report Finds

WASHINGTON - A major cybersecurity firm says it believes Beijing-backed hackers carried out cyberattacks on Israel while pretending to be operating from Israel's archrival, Iran. 

U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye said on August 10 that a study it conducted in cooperation with the Israeli military found that "UNC215," described by FireEye as a spy group suspected of being from China, had hacked into Israeli government networks after using remote desktop protocols (RDPs) to steal credentials from trusted third parties. RDPs enable a hacker to connect to a computer from afar and see the "desktop" of the remote device.  FireEye data, along with information shared by Israel’s defense agency, show that starting in January 2019, UNC215 carried out a number of concurrent attacks "against Israeli government institutions, IT providers, and telecommunications entities," according to the report.    Mandiant: Chinese hackers masquerading as Iranians