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Report: China Hackers Slammed Finland’s IoT Devices at Helsinki Summit

Number of attacks was 2,800 percent higher than usual.

Cyberattacks originating in China targeted Internet of Things (IoT) devices in Finland in the days leading up to the Trump-Putin summit, according to a report by Seattle cybersecurity company F5. The brute-force attacks sought access to devices that would provide audio and visual data, allowing intelligence collection on live events. “Nation-states, spies, mercenaries, and others don’t need to dress up as repairmen to plant bugs in rooms anymore,” the report notes.“They can just hack into a room that has vulnerable IoT devices.” Finland, not normally a target, saw a 2,800 percent spike in attack traffic around the summit, with 34 percent of attackers coming from China, F5 reported. Attacks also originated in the U.S., France, and Italy, but in far fewer numbers.