Chinese Hackers Reportedly Eavesdropped on G20 Summit

Security experts say they've traced tainted emails to five European ministries

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Alexei Danichev / Host Photo Agency / Getty

Heads of state and government gather in St. Petersburg, Russia for the second working meeting of the G20 Summit on September 6, 2013.

A cybersecurity firm claims Chinese hackers infiltrated five European ministries shortly before they attended September’s G20 Summit.

Reuters reports that FireEye traced tainted emails to recipients at five undisclosed European ministries. The emails contained attachments with official sounding titles, such as “US_military_options_in_Syria.” Once opened, the attachment uploaded a malicious code that allowed hackers to reconnoiter internal communications across compromised networks.

Just as the hackers appeared to be preparing to steal the data, they switched servers and shook FireEye off their trail. FireEye says it reported its findings to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

[Reuters]