Operation Cloud Hopper involved actors from which Chinese agency?

Operation Cloud Hopper involved actors from which Chinese agency?

• A. The Ministry of Public Security
• B. Ministry of State Security
• C. The People’s Liberation Army
• D. Central Military Commission

Answer: (B)

State-sponsored cyber espionage campaigns are typically attributed to the agency that handles foreign intelligence. In the case of Operation Cloud Hopper, researchers attributed the activity to China's Ministry of State Security, the agency responsible for collecting intelligence abroad and conducting espionage overseas. The operation, often linked to the threat group APT10, targeted managed service providers to breach their clients and exfiltrate sensitive data, which is exactly the kind of long-term intelligence gathering these actors are suspected of conducting on behalf of the MSS. The other options correspond to domestic policing or military bodies, whose missions do not align with this kind of international intelligence-collection campaign.

State-sponsored cyber espionage campaigns are typically attributed to the agency that handles foreign intelligence. In the case of Operation Cloud Hopper, researchers attributed the activity to China's Ministry of State Security, the agency responsible for collecting intelligence abroad and conducting espionage overseas. The operation, often linked to the threat group APT10, targeted managed service providers to breach their clients and exfiltrate sensitive data, which is exactly the kind of long-term intelligence gathering these actors are suspected of conducting on behalf of the MSS. The other options correspond to domestic policing or military bodies, whose missions do not align with this kind of international intelligence-collection campaign.