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A Timeline of Cyber Attacks
SUMMER, 2019

August 2019

• Huawei accused the U.S. government of hacking into its intranet and internal information systems to disrupt its business operations.
  
• China used compromised websites to distribute malware to Uyghur populations using previously undisclosed exploits for Apple, Google, and Windows phones.
  
• Chinese state-sponsored hackers were revealed to have targeted multiple U.S. cancer institutes to take information relating to cutting edge cancer research.
  
• North Korean hackers conducted a phishing campaign against foreign affairs officials in at least three countries, with a focus on those studying North Korean nuclear efforts and related international sanctions. 
  
• Huawei technicians helped government officials in two African countries track political rivals and access encrypted communications.
  
• The Czech Republic announced that the country’s Foreign Ministry had been the victim of a cyberattack by an unspecified foreign state
  
• A suspected Indian cyber espionage group conducted a phishing campaign targeting Chinese government agencies and state-owned enterprises for information related to economic trade, defense issues, and foreign relations.
  
• Networks at several Bahraini government agencies and critical infrastructure providers were infiltrated by hackers linked to Iran.
  
• A previously unidentified Chinese espionage group was found to have worked since 2012 to gather data from foreign firms in industries identified as strategic priorities by the Chinese government, including telecommunications, healthcare, semiconductor manufacturing, and machine learning. The group was also active in the theft of virtual currencies and the monitoring of dissidents in Hong Kong.
  
• Russian hackers were observed using vulnerable IoT devices like a printer, VOIP phone, and video decoder to break into high-value corporate networks.
  
• A seven-year campaign by an unidentified Spanish-language espionage group was revealed to have resulted in the theft of sensitive mapping files from senior officials in the Venezuelan Army.
  
• State-sponsored Chinese hackers conducted a spear-phishing campaign against employees of three major U.S. utility companies

 
July 2019

• Capital One reveals that a hacker accessed data on 100 million credit card applications, including Social Security and bank account numbers. 
  
• Encrypted email service provider ProtonMail was hacked by a state-sponsored group looking to gain access to accounts held by reporters and former intelligence officials conducting investigations of Russian intelligence activities.
  
• Several major German industrial firms including BASF, Siemens, and Henkel announced that they had been the victim of a state-sponsored hacking campaign reported to be linked to the Chinese government. 
  
• A Chinese hacking group was discovered to have targeted government agencies across East Asia involved in information technology, foreign affairs, and economic development.
  
• The U.S. Coast Guard issued a warning after it received a report that a merchant vessel had its networks disrupted by malware while traveling through international waters.
  
• Microsoft revealed that it had detected almost 800 cyberattacks over the past year targeting think tanks, NGOs, and other political organizations around the world, with the majority of attacks originating in Iran, North Korean, and Russia.
  
• Libya arrested two men who were accused of working with a Russian troll farm to influence the elections in several African countries.
  
• Croatian government agencies were targeted in a series of attacks by unidentified state sponsored hackers. 

 
June 2019 

• Western intelligence services were alleged to have hacked into Russian internet search company Yandex in late 2018 to spy on user accounts.  
  
• Over the course of seven years, a Chinese espionage group hacked into ten international cellphone providers operating across thirty countries to track dissidents, officials, and suspected spies.
  
• The U.S. announced it had launched offensive cyber operations against Iranian computer systems used to control missile and rocket launches.
  
• Iran announced that it had exposed and helped dismantle an alleged CIA-backed cyber espionage network across multiple countries.
  
• U.S. officials reveal ongoing efforts to deploy hacking tools against Russian grid systems as a deterrent and warning to Russia.
  
• U.S. grid regulator NERC issued a warning that a major hacking group with suspected Russian ties was conducting reconnaissance into the networks of electrical utilities. 
  
• hina conducted a denial of service attack on encrypted messaging service Telegram in order to disrupt communications among Hong Kong protestors. 
  
• A suspected Iranian group was found to have hacked into telecommunications services in Iraq, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.
  
• Chinese intelligence services hacked into the Australian University to collect data they could use to groom students as informants before they were hired into the civil service.

The above list was compiled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and is reprinted with permission.