Researchers from the cybersecurity company ThreatConnect have found a connection between a cyberhacking group and the Chinese military, according to CNN. In their report, they claim that a hacker collective known as "Naikon" has connections to a military intelligence unit of the People's Liberation Army in the city of Kunming in southern China.
The techniques used by the hackers take advantage of emails that infect computers with malware with the goal of obtaining sensitive information. After the information is acquired, it is sent to the Chinese military.
"What we see from Chinese intrusions is that they have a very grass roots, bottom-up kind of model," said James Mulvenon of ThreatConnect. "They have a lot of groups that are encouraged with relatively vague guidance to go out and develop hundreds of accesses and bring back lots of data."
The hacking group Naikon has reportedly gained access to crucial computer networks in countries competing with China for control over the South China Sea, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Despite tensions between China and other countries due to cyberattacks and cybercrime, China's President Xi Jinping assures that the country does not support such acts and says that it has also been the victim of such attacks.
"The Chinese government will not, in whatever form, engage in commercial thefts or encourage or support such attempts by anyone," he said.
