East Asian Hackers vs East European Hackers

Hackers exist in most countries of the world, but as we can clearly see from their campaigns, they each have their own way of operating. Experts from Trend Micro have published a paper in which they detail the differences between hackers from Eastern Europe and ones from East Asian countries.

Entitled Peter the Great vs. Sun Tzu – Peter the Great was a Russian tsar and Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general – the study focuses on the threats posed by these actors to organizations, particularly ones from the US.  

The first noteworthy observation made by the experts focuses on the malicious tools used by these cybercriminals. Hackers from Eastern Europe use sophisticated custom-built malware, while the ones from Asia rely on simpler techniques and off-the-shelf malware.

The first noteworthy observation made by the experts focuses on the malicious tools used by these cybercriminals. Hackers from Eastern Europe use sophisticated custom-built malware, while the ones from Asia rely on simpler techniques and off-the-shelf malware.

European criminals also win when it comes to the infrastructures they use in their operations. They choose bulletproof hosts and utilize their own infrastructures, as opposed to East Asian attackers which tend to turn to cheap hosts offered by companies such as Internet service providers (ISP).

Another interesting aspect is that while Asian hackers work as part of a legion of cyberexperts, the ones from Europe are similar to mercenaries, working in small teams that directly profit from their actions.

The personal information of unsuspecting users is not much of a loot for Asians, as they focus their objectives more towards stealing corporate data. Europeans, on the other hand, are specialized in stealing usernames, passwords, email addresses and other credentials.

Experts found that for hackers from Eastern Asia, individual reputation is not so important as it is for Eastern European hackers since they mostly work for institutions that ensure them a steady income. 

This technique deployed by Chinese and other similar collectives – to work in large teams – can pay off sometimes. That’s because, unlike their European counterparts, they don’t have to worry so much about camouflaging their activities since they’re aware of the fact that they’re only one among many.   


Source: @EduardKovacs | softpedia