‘This is another example of China’s offensive cyber operations designed to steal American strategy and leverage it against Congress,’ Rep. John Moolenaar says.
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) said on Sept. 8 that malicious cyberactors have impersonated him in correspondence with trusted connections in recent weeks, suspecting Chinese state-backed cyberactors targeting sensitive information, as the timing overlaps with U.S.–China trade talks.
Moolenaar is the chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, which conducts investigations and hearings and issues reports on the threat posed by the Chinese regime.
According to the committee, several emails were sent from Moolenaar’s address to certain contacts that included files which, if opened, would have granted the cyberactors access to the recipients’ systems, in what is known as a phishing campaign.
The committee said that the cyberactors sought to hide their activities in ways that are similar to what was seen in other Chinese state-backed cyberespionage campaigns.
“This is another example of China’s offensive cyber operations designed to steal American strategy and leverage it against Congress, the Administration, and the American people,” Moolenaar said in a statement. “We will not be intimidated, and we will continue our work to keep America safe.”
The lawmaker noted that this incident comes at a time when high-level talks between the United States and China are ongoing, stating that it may have been part of a campaign aimed at “influencing U.S. policy deliberations and negotiation strategies to gain an advantage in trade and foreign policy.”
“These campaigns seek to compromise organizations and individuals involved in U.S.–China trade policy and diplomacy, including U.S. government agencies, U.S. business organizations, D.C. law firms and think tanks, and at least one foreign government,” a committee statement said.
The committee saw a similar campaign in January, when senior staff members working on a confidential investigation into Chinese state-owned port machinery company Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company Limited (ZPMC) were targets of a phishing campaign. Malicious cyberactors posed as a representative from ZPMC North America to try to get the staffers to go to a page designed to steal Microsoft 365 credentials.
The committee has released reports warning that the predominance of Chinese-made ship-to-shore cranes at U.S. ports poses a major cybersecurity risk.
