CrowdStrike: China-Affiliated Cyber Attacks Continued After Pact Signed

Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder and chief technology officer of CrowdStrike, says his company has identified several attempted intrusions by China-affiliated threat actors on U.S. companies over the past month.

Alperovitch wrote in a blog entry posted Monday that the company used its cloud-based CrowdStrike Falcon technology to detect and combat the attacks, which focused mainly on the technology and pharmaceutical sectors.

He noted the malicious activities occurred even as the U.S. and China reached an agreement in September against the cyber theft of intellectual property for commercial advantage.

President Barack Obama announced the cyber cooperation deal during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S..

Alperovitch said the attempted intrusions appear to target data protected under the agreement, used known tradecraft and infrastructure and utilized Web server vulnerabilities.

“[The] very fact that these attempts occurred highlights the need to remain vigilant despite the newly minted cyber agreement,” he said.

“[We] need to know the parameters for success and whether the parties to the agreement discussed a time frame for implementation or, instead, expected it to be immediate.”