It's the type of cyber espionage that security agencies in both the Biden and Trump administrations have aggressively sought to expose before it does too much damage. The goal in going public with the information is to warn other corporations that might be targeted and to burn the hackers' tools in the process.
Olson said that the nine confirmed victims are the"tip of the spear" of the apparent spying campaign, and that he expects more victims to emerge. It's unclear who is responsible for the activity, but Palo Alto Networks said some of the attackers' tactics and tools overlap with those used by a suspected Chinese hacking group.With their trove of national security-related secrets, US defense contractors are a recurring target for foreign hackers.
"In aggregate, access to that information can be really valuable," Olson said."Even if it's not classified information, even if it's just information about how the business is doing."