Chinese group Vixen Panda suspected of recent cyberattack on Slovenian Foreign Ministry

Chinese hacker group Vixen Panda (also known as APT15 group), one of the most active and skilled cyber espionage groups, is suspected of the recent cyberattack on Slovenian Foreign Ministry.

Citing unofficial sources, Slovenian publication 24ur.com said that the hackers targeted two servers communicating with foreign ministries’ servers in multiple European countries. The Ministry’s IT system was shut down immediately after the attack was discovered.

The servers were infected with malware created by the group, which is believed to be directly linked to the Chinese military. The main object of the systematic attack was apparently to steal documents related to China and bilateral relations between Slovenia and China. The servers have now been cleaned up, and an investigation into the attack is ongoing.

Earlier, a representative of the Slovenian Foreign Ministry said that the attack came from a “third country.” However, when quizzed by Parliamentarians, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Samuel Žbogar said he could not confirm alleged Chinese involvement or any of the claims made by 24ur.