Security researchers say they have discovered a Chinese hacking tool that may have been able to escape public attention for over a decade.

Cybersecurity firm Symantec made the discovery, which was shared with the US government and disseminated to foreign partners according to a US official. Symantec recently published its research about the tool it’s calling Daxin.


“The capabilities of this malware are remarkable and would be extremely difficult to detect without this public research,” said Neil Jenkins, chief analytics officer at the Cyber Threat Alliance.

Vikram Thakur, a technical director with Symantec, said the discovery is noteworthy because of the sale of its intrusions and advanced nature. He claims its victims include high level government agencies in Asia and Africa, including Ministries of Justice.

“Daxin can be controlled from anywhere in the world once a computer is actually infected,” said Thakur. “That’s what raises the bar from malware that we see coming out of groups operating from China.”

The US government is currently helping notify affected organizations around the globe.

(Visited 9,550 times, 1 visits today)