The cyber-espionage group focuses on intelligence gathering using hard-to-detect malware.
Microsoft has successfully seized control of 42 domains which were being used by a Chinese hacking group to carry out intelligence gathering across 29 countries using malware. As The Record reports, Microsoft refers to the cyber-espionage group as Nickel, with the group’s focus being to infiltrate and gather intelligence from government agencies, think tanks, and human rights organizations. The US was one of those targets along with 28 other countries including Argentina, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Mali, Mexico, Montenegro, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela.
