Chinese hackers targeting smart cards to grab U.S. defense data

Chinese hackers have embedded malicious software targeting smart cards used by the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and several other United States government agencies employees. A new strain of the Sykipot Trojan has been used for the attacks.

"Like we have shown with previous Sykipot attacks, the attackers use a spear phishing campaign to get their targets to open a PDF attachment which then deposits the Sykipot malware onto their machine," according to security company AlienVault. "Then, unlike previous strains, the malware uses a keylogger to steal PINs for the cards. When a card is inserted into the reader, the malware then acts as the authenticated user and can access sensitive information. The malware is controlled by the attackers from the command & control center."

The researchers say the Chinese hackers are specifically targeting smart card readers that run ActivClient, a program made by ActivIdentity, a Fremont, California authentication company.

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