Is China hacking Afghan government sites?

The Chinese government may be infiltrating numerous Afghan government sites, according to a new report.

Cybersecurity firm ThreatConnect has found evidence of Chinese intrusions across myriad sites, including the ministries of justice, finance, foreign affairs and education.

{mosads}It appears to be an espionage campaign, the firm said. Hackers reportedly infected large swaths of visitors to these sites and then trailed high-level visitors.

The latest evidence of the snooping coincided with a visit last week to the region by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. It resembled other suspected Chinese surveillance efforts centered around a diplomatic visit to Greece earlier this year.

“As the U.S. and NATO reduce their troop levels in Afghanistan, China is posturing to fill the gap of influence that the west is leaving behind,” said a ThreatConnect blog post on the research.

“With plans to facilitate multilateral peace talks with the Taliban and establish major transportation projects which aim to bolster the Afghan economy, Beijing has been eyeing Afghanistan as part of its broader South Asian strategy,” ThreatConnect said.

One of China’s ultimate goals is likely to gather information on U.S. plans in the region.

“The attackers will most likely infect victims outside the Afghan government who happened to be browsing any one of the [Afghan government sites], specifically, partner states involved in the planned troop reduction,” ThreatConnect said.

The U.S. recently ended its combat operations in Afghanistan, but maintains a presence in the region.