China-Based Hackers Target Law Firms

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-31/china-based-hackers-target-law-firms.html

By Michael A. Riley and Sophia Pearson
Bloomberg
Jan 30, 2012

China-based hackers looking to derail the $40 billion acquisition of the 
world’s largest potash producer by an Australian mining giant zeroed in 
on offices on Toronto’s Bay Street, home of the Canadian law firms 
handling the deal.

Over a few months beginning in September 2010, the hackers rifled one 
secure computer network after the next, eventually hitting seven 
different law firms as well as Canada’s Finance Ministry and the 
Treasury Board, according to Daniel Tobok, president of Toronto-based 
Digital Wyzdom. His cyber security company was hired by the law firms to 
assist in the probe.

The investigation linked the intrusions to a Chinese effort to scuttle 
the takeover of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. by BHP Billiton Ltd. 
as part of the global competition for natural resources, Tobok said. 
Such stolen data can be worth tens of millions of dollars and give the 
party who possesses it an unfair advantage in deal negotiations, he 
said.

Though the deal eventually fell apart for unrelated reasons, the 
incident illustrates the vulnerability of law firms. They are 
increasingly threatened with a loss of client business if they can’t 
show improved security as such attacks continue to escalate.

[...]

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