NBC News
this week obtained leaked slides from a February 2014 NSA presentation which highlight in specific detail the extent to which China has successfully hacked U.S. corporations and individuals.
As indicated by the map above, each red dot represents a unique “successful Chinese attempt to steal corporate and military secrets and data about America’s critical infrastructure, particularly the electrical power and telecommunications and internet backbone.” All told, there were nearly 700 successful hacking attempts on U.S. targets over the last five years.
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Not surprisingly, the clusters of red congregate mostly in California and in the DC and Maryland area. Interestingly, North Dakota is the only state that wasnt’ (successfully) targeted by any attacks.
As for the type of information the aforementioned hacking incidents yielded, the report indicates that Chinese hackers were able to make off with data as varied as pharmaceutical products to details surrounding both U.S. military and civilian air traffic control systems.
The report further adds that the map above was originally prepared as part of a larger briefing by the NSA Threat Operations Center. During said briefing, officials reportedly indicated that China has a particular interest in keeping tabs on Google and “defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, and in air traffic control systems.”
