Asia-based government spies quietly broke into critical networks across 37 countries

A state-aligned cyber group in Asia compromised government and critical infrastructure organizations across 37 countries in an ongoing espionage campaign, according to security researchers.

In total, the crew compromised at least 70 organizations, and maintained access to several of these for months.

"While this group might be pursuing espionage objectives, its methods, targets and scale of operations are alarming, with potential long-term consequences for national security and key services," Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 cyber sleuths said in research published on Wednesday. 

Successful break-ins included five national police or border control entities, one nation's parliament, a senior elected official, and national telecommunications companies. The spies also broke into systems belonging to three ministries of finance and other government agencies.

"Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 confirmed that the threat actor successfully accessed and exfiltrated sensitive data from victim email servers," Unit 42 Director of National Security Programs Pete Renals told ...