Chinese Hackers Breached Law Firm Williams & Connolly via Zero-Day

Williams & Connolly said state-sponsored hackers breached some of its systems and gained access to attorney email accounts via an unspecified zero-day vulnerability, affecting a small number of emails. The firm’s investigation, conducted with CrowdStrike, found no evidence that confidential client data was stolen or that other parts of the IT system were compromised.

According to The New York Times, Chinese hackers targeted Williams & Connolly and other law firms; Google’s Threat Intelligence Group and Mandiant recently reported that China-linked cyberespionage groups have targeted the legal services sector, with attackers spending, on average, nearly 400 days in the targeted networks. The statement also noted that there was no explicit mention of China by the firm, but the NYT report and security researchers link the operation to a state-sponsored actor. Williams & Connolly has been telling clients that the hackers are unlikely to sell or publish the information obtained.