Chinese hackers have spied on the personal emails of Obama officials for at least 5 years

Chinese spies have reportedly accessed the personal emails of several top US officials, according to NBC News.

The email heist – first named ‘Dancing Panda’ and later changed to ‘Legion Amethyst’ – was first detected in April 2010, and it’s possible it may have begun earlier. NBC obtained a ‘top secret document’ from a 2014 NSA briefing alleging the email hacks were still happening at the time of the event.

Google has disclosed some email accounts from government officials were likely breached by China in 2011, but the document obtained by the NBC shows other providers were affected as well. These aren’t listed, however.

An undisclosed senior US intelligence official provided more details, stating that “all top national security and trade officials” were targets, and that the hacks are ongoing. The hackers also stole email address books so they could send malware to friends and colleagues.

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These were personal email accounts, however; government accounts were unaffected according to the intelligence official. Still, personal accounts can contain a lot of sensitive information, as Hillary Clinton may know.

➤ China Read Emails of Top U.S. Officials [NBC News via Gizmodo]

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