Cyber-espionage campaigns are targeting employees directly, including through hiring processes, report claims

Defence companies, their hiring processes and their employees have become a key target of state-sponsored cyber-espionage campaigns, according to a report from Google released before the Munich Security Conference.

The report catalogues a “relentless barrage of cyber operations”, most by state-sponsored groups, against EU and US industrial supply chains. It suggests the range of targets for these hackers has grown to encompass the broader industrial base of the US and Europe –from German aerospace firms to UK carmakers.

State-linked hackers have long targeted the global defence industry, but Luke McNamara, an analyst for Google’s threat intelligence group, said they had seen more “personalised” and “direct to individual” targeting of employees.