WASHINGTON – A security company that last month highlighted spyware hidden in Chinese tax software released a new report on Tuesday that sheds more light on how Western companies doing business in China are targeted by industrial espionage.
Analysts at cybersecurity firm Trustwave say they discovered a new type of malware that they say was embedded in sales tax software, a different and older malicious tool than the previous one they found.
In June, Trustwave’s SpiderLabs reported on the malware they called GoldenSpy, which was hidden within software that their client, a technology company linked to the U.S. defense industry, was required to install to pay local taxes. The malware secretly installed a back door that gave attackers full access to the company’s networks, Trustwave reported.
On Tuesday, Trustwave highlighted a different piece of spyware they call GoldenHelper, which they say was hidden in different tax programs required by Chinese banks for paying value-added taxes. It also opened users up to hackers, who could secretly steal corporate secrets.
“The new malware is completely different from GoldenSpy, although the delivery modus operandi is very similar,” the report says.
Click here to read the report.
The report says the GoldenHelper malware campaign was active in 2018 and 2019 before abruptly ending in July 2019. It was hidden in what is known as the Golden Tax Invoicing Software, which was required from companies to help account for and pay taxes. value added, a form of sales tax, the report says.
Since the release of the GoldenSpy report, Trustwave said it discovered that a program had been inserted into the fiscal software that erased all traces of the malware.
“Whoever is behind GoldenSpy is fighting to erase all traces of it,” said the company, which did not name affected customers, as is customary in the cybersecurity industry.
Trustwave did not formally point to those who believe it is behind spyware, except to say it had the hallmarks of a nation-state campaign.
US intelligence officials say the Chinese government ruthlessly hides corporate secrets from western companies, a charge that China denies.
