Report: Chinese army behind cyber attacks – U.S. security firm official Grady Summers weighs in

A new report from US security firm Mandiant saying a secret unit of the Chinese military is behind a massive computer hacking campaign against the US. The report says a cyber division of the People's Liberation Army is responsible for the hacking and it may be operating out of a white 12-story tower in Shanghai. Foreign media companies broadcasted on the mainland like CNN are blacked out when the report was mentioned on air. This morning, Mandiant Vice President of Customer Success Grady Summers joins “Starting Point” to talk about the massive computer hacking campaign.

Summers says the report contains, “pages of evidence… including 3,000 digital indicators and actually video of the attackers doing their dirty work on victim machine.” He adds that the report is, “not a baseless casual allegation. It’s based on six years of research.”

Most of the targets were, “commercial –corporate targets,” says Summers. He adds they were, “truly who’s who of American companies. Of the 141 victims worldwide, 115 of them were in the U.S.”

Summers adds, “20 different industries were targeted by this group APT1,” including blue-chip roster companies in fields like aerospace, defense, transportation and financial services.