Chinese Hackers Had Access to a U.S. Hacking Tool Years Before It Was Leaked Online

On August 13, 2016, a hacking unit calling itself ” The Shadow Brokers ” announced that it had stolen malware tools and exploits used by the Equation Group, a sophisticated threat actor believed to be affiliated to the Tailored Access Operations (TAO) unit of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). Although the group has since signed off following the unprecedented disclosures, new “conclusive” evidence unearthed by Check Point Research shows that this was not an isolated incident. The previously undocumented cyber-theft took place more than two years before the Shadow Brokers episode, the American-Israeli cybersecurity company said in an exhaustive…