China attempted to hack German software company

GOPPINGEN, GERMANY — German software company Team Viewer has confirmed a previously undisclosed breach by Chinese state-owned hackers that occurred in 2016.

Der Spiegel reports that the hackers used a malware called Winnti. This trojan computer virus has been present since 2009 and is known to be used by several hacker groups in China, making it hard to pinpoint who was behind the 2016 breach.

However, ZDNet states that two Beijing hacking groups called APT 10 and APT 17 have carried out attacks similar to the Team Viewer breach.

The company told Der Spiegel they detected the break-in before any damage had been done and added that no customer data or private information had been stolen. Der Spiegel, however, claims the Chinese hackers had infiltrated TeamViewer's system since 2014.

Team Viewer is a closed-source software used for desktop sharing, online meetings and conferences, and remote control access. Their software is used by millions, making them a target for hacker groups. Their clients include large corporations, such as Microsoft, Philips, and Lush.

Other German companies have also been targeted in the past. According to Bleeping Computer, leading German steel producer ThyssenKrupp was attacked by Southeast Asian hackers in 2016. The company believes the hackers' goal was to extract technical information and research done by ThyssenKrupp.

According to Reuters, German pharma giant Bayer also claimed to have detected and contained a data infiltration they believe was orchestrated by Chinese hackers, who used the Winnti malware to breach their system.