Amnesty International Hong Kong Attacked

The Hong Kong branch of Amnesty International has reportedly been the target of a sophisticated state-sponsored attack believed to have been carried out by a group of hostile threat actors within the Chinese government. An April 25 press release from Amnesty International said the cyber-attack was detected on March 15, 2019, after monitoring tools identified suspicious behavior in the IT systems of Amnesty International Hong Kong. Though the organization is not able to give specific details about the suspected cyber-criminals, the indicators of compromise identified at this stage are consistent with a well-developed adversary, according to the press release. Initial findings of cyber-forensic investigators suggest that the attackers used similar tools and techniques known to be associated with advanced persistent threat (APT) groups within the Chinese government. “This sophisticated cyber-attack underscores the dangers posed by state-sponsored hacking and the need to be ever-vigilant to the risk of such attacks. We refuse to be intimidated by this outrageous attempt to harvest information and obstruct our human rights work,” said Man-kei Tam, director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, in the press release.