A hacker has allegedly stolen a massive trove of sensitive data, including highly classified defense documents and missile schematics, from a state-run Chinese supercomputer in what could potentially constitute the largest known heist of data from China.
The dataset, which allegedly contains more than 10 petabytes of sensitive information, is believed by experts to have been obtained from the National Supercomputing Center (NSCC) in Tianjin.
A hacker calling itself FlamingChina posted a sample of the alleged dataset on an anonymous Telegram channel on February 6, claiming it contained “research across various fields including aerospace engineering, military research, bioinformatics, fusion simulation and more.”
The group alleges the information is linked to “top organizations” including the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, and the National University of Defense Technology.
The alleged sample data appeared to include documents marked “secret” in Chinese, along with technical files, animated simulations and renderings of defense equipment including bombs and missiles.
To put the scale in perspective: one petabyte equals 1,000 terabytes, and a high-spec laptop typically holds around one terabyte
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Thoughts about this breach?
Imogen