A cybersecurity company, Kaspersky Laboratory, says group of Chinese hackers has attacked several government agencies and defense companies in Russia.

“According to a global affairs analyst, Mr Emesakoru Enifome, the computer networks of dozens of targets in several countries including Russia were compromised as a result.

In a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, he said: “According to available information, a report by the cybersecurity company, Kaspersky Laboratory, which appeared to a limited circle of Russian politicians, it is noted that the government-linked Chinese hacker group TA428 is behind numerous attacks on the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation.

“Russian Kaspersky Lab researchers are convinced that the attacks were aimed at industrial enterprises, design bureaus and research institutes, government institutions, ministries, and departments in several Eastern European countries such as Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as Afghanistan.

“According to them, the data shows that the purpose of this series of attacks was cyber espionage. The cyber attacks were first discovered in January 2022.

“Hackers used phishing emails containing sensitive information about compromised organizations and malicious code to deploy the PortDoor malware to infiltrate computer networks.

“As a result, the networks of dozens of targets were compromised, and in some cases, their entire IT infrastructure was even captured,” he said.