Cyberattacks by India against Pakistan and China are “on the rise”

Chinese cybersecurity companies have recently conducted investigations that have revealed a string of cyberattacks from India to nations like China and Pakistan.

China purportedly intercepted a cyberattack in December against the Chinese military that was carried out by a gang of Indian hackers.

As to the assessment, there were evident similarities between the attack and earlier ones concerning targets and techniques, suggesting that the same organization might have been accountable.

The company, which is referred to as an advanced persistent threat (APT), is said to have been active since at least November 2013, prior to Narendra Modi taking office as prime minister of India.

The Chinese company Qihoo 360 named it “Manlinghua” upon its initial detection in 2016, whereas the American security firm Forcepoint termed it “Bitter.”

Since then, it has become increasingly clear that Bitter’s operations are focused on China and Pakistan as more information about them has surfaced.

According to reports, the company targets government agencies, the military, and the nuclear industry. Its two main methods of assault are watering hole and spearfishing.

Based on IP address locations and language patterns found in the attacks, cybersecurity specialists believe the group’s origins are in India, maybe with official support.

Furthermore, Bitter is said to be associated with a number of other groups that are thought to be Indian, such as Patchwork, SideWinder, and Donot.

The report stated that “contrary to the popular belief that China’s cyber threats mainly come from the United States, professionals in the field point out that a significant number of attacks originate from South Asian countries.”