According to a Thursday-released report by cybersecurity firm McAfee, China-based hackers conducted a “coordinated, covert and targeted” campaign of cyber-espionage against some of the leading Western energy firms, downloading sensitive data from their corporate networks.

The report notes that cyber-espionage by Chinese hackers was chiefly aimed at pilfering the computer networks of the world’s bigwig oil, energy, and petrochemical companies. The sensitive information downloaded by the hackers also included the companies’ “bid data”, which details oil discoveries around the world.

Despite the fact that law-enforcement agencies have mentioned that the hacking incidents are being investigated, the McAfee report claims that the attacks – termed as “Night Dragon” – have apparently been going on at least since late 2009. As per the company, these attacks appear to have begun in 2007; and are still continuing.

Noting that it has shared the findings about the hacks with the aim “to protect those not yet impacted and to repair those who have been,” McAfee said that the hackers chiefly targeted five multinational firms. However, the company stopped short of naming these firms, saying that some of them are its clients. 

Further adding that attacks of this kind focus largely “not on using and abusing machines within the organizations being compromised, but rather on the theft of specific data and intellectual property,” the McAfee report stated: “While Night Dragon attacks focused specifically on the energy sector, the tools and techniques of this kind can be highly successful when targeting any industry.”