Kazakhstan Officials' Confidential E-mail Found on Chinese Hackers' Laptops Following Arrest in Singapore

Three Chinese nationals working for an international cybercrime group have been arrested in Singapore. Police found documents and correspondence on their laptops linked to several foreign governments, including Kazakhstan, Orda.kz reports.

According to The Straits Times, a confidential email between employees of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development was discovered on the device of one of the suspects, 33-year-old Liu Yuqi.

The Singaporean outlet did not specify the contents of the correspondence but detailed the group’s operations. The hackers — Liu Yuqi, Yan Peijian, and Huan Qinzheng — were detained in September 2024 after arriving in Singapore for another assignment involving the collection of personal data and the hacking of government networks.

Investigators found hundreds of malicious programs on the suspects’ laptops, including remote access tools (RATs) used to control compromised computers. Among them was PlugX, a well-known malware strain often associated with hackers linked to state entities.

Yan’s laptop contained discussions about security vulnerabilities on government websites in Australia, Argentina, and Vietnam, while Huan’s device held documents listing the names, addresses, and payment data of clients of a Philippine energy company.

On November 5, a Singapore court sentenced all three to two years and five months in prison.

Orda.kz has sent official requests to the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confirm whether they were aware of the possible cyberattack and whether the hackers had access to the confidential correspondence.

Original Author: Zarina Fayzulina