CNN: China's Supercomputing Center Hacked, Classified Missile Designs Allegedly Leaked

The report points out that experts believe the hacked institution is the "National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin," and it is understood that over 10PB (approximately 10 million GB) of data was leaked. This supercomputing center is a critical information infrastructure in China, serving over 6,000 units, including advanced scientific research institutions and national defense units.

The report states that several cybersecurity experts had contact with the alleged hacker and saw publicly released samples of the stolen data.

These cybersecurity experts stated that the hacker seemed to have easily infiltrated the supercomputer, continuously stealing large amounts of data for several months without being detected. They then offered partial data previews for thousands of dollars, while full access to the data cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, demanding payment in cryptocurrency.

An account calling itself FlamingChina publicly released some data samples on an anonymous Telegram channel on February 6, claiming that the stolen data covered "research results in multiple fields such as aerospace engineering, military research, bioinformatics, and nuclear fusion simulation," and that the data originated from "top institutions" such as Aviation Industry Corporation of China, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, and National University of Defense Technology.

CNN has sought responses from China's Ministry of Science and Technology and the Cyberspace Administration of China regarding this matter.

CNN could not verify the source of this data or FlamingChina's claims, but multiple experts, after preliminary assessment, believe that the leaked data is likely authentic.

Dakota Cary, a China expert at the US cybersecurity company SentinelOne, after reviewing the public data samples, stated: "This data is completely consistent with what I would expect to see in a supercomputing center."

Another cybersecurity researcher, Marc Hofer, who also reviewed the public data samples, stated that he contacted someone on Telegram who claimed to be involved in the incident. The person claimed that they entered the "National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin" through a VPN domain and deployed a "botnet" to infiltrate the system, extract, download, and store data, which took about 6 months.

If this intrusion incident is true, it will reveal deeper security vulnerabilities in China's technological infrastructure, posing a major concern as China actively competes with the United States for global leadership in technological innovation and artificial intelligence. (Editor: Zhang Ming-xuan) 1150408