Chinese Hackers Turn Household Appliances into Spy Tools 0 18

Your ordinary home router or even a "smart" refrigerator can be turned into a powerful weapon for cybercriminals. Chinese intelligence is actively hacking household appliances around the world, using them to spy on government institutions and steal confidential data. These alarming facts have come to light thanks to an investigation by the Financial Times, reported by Business Insider.

The publication notes that Chinese hackers deploy "vast networks" of everyday gadgets that are constantly connected to the power grid. Using these common Wi-Fi devices, they deliberately target the "internal infrastructure and democratic institutions" of Western countries.

The intelligence agencies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and several other countries have officially warned about the seriousness of this threat. The British Cyber Security Centre emphasized that China employs household appliances "strategically and on a large scale." For these purposes, special "botnets" are formed, consisting of tens of thousands of devices capable of stealthily stealing information.

"Hacking routers or refrigerators in private homes and businesses is easy, as their software is often not updated. Network equipment allows not only for complex attacks but also for effectively masking them," explained a European intelligence representative in an interview with the Financial Times.

Western intelligence agencies have already identified key hacker groups in China: Volt Typhoon, Flax Typhoon, and Violet Typhoon. Experts believe these groups have close ties to Chinese military structures.

The publication emphasizes that the main danger of such attacks lies in their ability to paralyze both military and civilian systems. American intelligence believes these actions are aimed at preventing the U.S. from responding quickly to a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan in the future.