Chinese Hackers Blamed for Severe Breach at US Cyber Firm F5 (2)

A potentially “catastrophic” breach of a major US-based cybersecurity provider has been blamed on state-backed hackers from China, according to people familiar with the matter.

Seattle-based F5 Inc. disclosed in a regulatory filing Wednesday that nation-state hackers had breached its networks and gained “long-term, persistent access” to certain systems. The intruders stole files including portions of source code from the company’s BIG-IP suite of application services, which are widely used by Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, as well as details about some flaws that could be used to target the company’s customers.

Representatives for F5 have told customers that ...