Thread by @Reuters

As diplomats gathered at the African Union’s headquarters earlier this year to prepare for its annual leaders’ summit, employees of the international organization made a disturbing discovery. Someone was stealing footage from their own security cameras reut.rs/34fxDG0

Acting on a tip from Japanese cyber researchers, the AU discovered that a group of suspected Chinese hackers had rigged a cluster of servers in the basement of an administrative annex to quietly siphon surveillance videos from across the campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital

The security breach was carried out by a Chinese hacking group nicknamed 'Bronze President,' according to an internal memo reviewed by @Reuters. It said the affected cameras covered 'AU offices, parking areas, corridors, and meeting rooms'

'We cannot estimate the quantity and value of the data which have been stolen,' the memo continued, adding that while AU technicians had managed to interrupt the flow of data, the hackers could easily regain the upper hand

The alert, drafted in late January and circulated to senior officials, provides a glimpse of how world powers are jockeying for influence and visibility at the continent’s paramount pan-African organization. Read the full exclusive reut.rs/34fxDG0 by @razhael