Chinese hackers attacked the largest industrial companies in Germany

German companies BASF, Siemens and Henkel became victims of cybeattacks that aimed espionage.

Eight German companies suffered during the malicious attacks, six of which are the largest joint-stock corporations in Germany, according to the Public Broadcasting Association of the Federal Republic of Germany (ARD).

According to ARD, about a dozen enterprises from various countries in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, telecommunications providers and airlines became victims of cybeattacks.

Among the victims are such companies as the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, the Marriott hotel group, Lion Air, the largest private airline in Indonesia, large Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo, the largest chemical company in Japan, Shin-Etsu and Valve Corporation, known for its gaming platform Steam.

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For the attacks were used malware Winnti, which allowed attackers to gain remote access to the devices of the victims. According to ARD, a malware analysis showed that behind the cyber attacks, probably there is a hacker group controlled from China.

“All of the identified firms said that no sensitive information had been lost, while none of the companies commented on whether the attacks had been launched by Chinese hackers”, — reports Silicon.co.uk website.

Industrial Conglomerate Siemens, German chemical company Henkel and the Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche confirmed that their devices had been compromised with Winnti. The German chemical concern BASF and the German company Covestro also confirmed facts of cyberattacks on them.