Hackers broke into the internal networks on major companies, such as HPE and IBM, and stole corporate data and trade secrets. Then the attackers used the stolen information to target into customer systems.

The list of victims is long and includes tech giants like HPE, IBM, DXC, Fujitsu, and Tata.

“Teams of hackers connected to the Chinese Ministry of State Security had penetrated HPE’s cloud computing service and used it as a launchpad to attack customers, plundering reams of corporate and government secrets for years in what U.S. prosecutors say was an effort to boost Chinese economic interests.” reads a report published by the Reuters agency.

“The hacking campaign, known as “Cloud Hopper,” was the subject of a U.S. indictment in December that accused two Chinese nationals of identity theft and fraud. Prosecutors described an elaborate operation that victimized multiple Western companies but stopped short of naming them. A Reuters report at the time identified two: Hewlett Packard Enterprise and IBM.”

The report attributed the cyberespionage campaign to the China-linked APT10(aka Menupass, and Stone Panda), the same group recently accused of hacking telco operators worldwide. The group has been active at least since 2009, in April 2017 experts from PwC UK and BAE Systems uncovered a widespread hacking campaign, tracked as Operation Cloud Hopper, targeting managed service providers (MSPs) in multiple countries worldwide.