Belgium investigating alleged cyberattack on intelligence agency by China-linked hackers

Belgium is investigating an alleged data breach of its state security service (VSSE) by Chinese government hackers. In a statement sent to TechCrunch on Friday, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said an investigation into a cyberattack was opened in November 2023 after it learned about the alleged breach. This confirms an earlier report by the French-language Belgian newspaper Le Soir, which reported that a Chinese hacking group gained access to the external mail server of the intelligence service between 2021 and 2023. The unnamed Chinese hacking group reportedly exploited a vulnerability in U.S. cybersecurity firm Barracuda’s software. The critical-rated flaw, which Barracuda first disclosed in May 2023, impacts the firm’s Email Security Gateway (ESG) appliance, a firewall for filtering inbound and outbound emails for potentially malicious content. Barracuda spokesperson Lesley Sullivan told TechCrunch that “questions regarding any breaches at VSSE are more appropriately di ... Read full article.