Beijing slams cyber spying accusations
Washington claims that Chinese hacking group APT31 is part of a cyberespionage program of the Ministry of State Security
Daily TribuneWashington claims that Chinese hacking group APT31 is part of a cyberespionage program of the Ministry of State Security
China has slammed the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand for accusing it of cyber attacks on the three countries designed to aid Beijing’s “economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.”
Beijing on Tuesday insisted it “opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks” and accused the US of its own campaign of cyber-espionage.
“Relevant Chinese cybersecurity agencies have released a series of reports on the US government’s cyberattacks against China and other countries, but the US government has always played dumb,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
Washington said a unit, dubbed APT31, was behind the hackings over the last decade under a “cyberespionage program” run by China’s powerful Ministry of State Security out of the central city of Wuhan.
US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on Monday said the campaign involved more than 10,000 emails being sent, targeting American and foreign-based businesses, politicians, candidates for elected office and journalists.
Seven alleged hackers have been charged for their roles in gaining access to “email accounts, cloud storage accounts and telephone call records” the Justice Department said, monitoring some accounts for “years.”
APT31 and APT40
London said that from 2021 to 2022 the same APT31 group had targeted UK lawmakers’ accounts, including many who were critical of Beijing’s policies.
Two individuals and one company linked to APT31 have been hit with UK sanctions.
In a parallel announcement, New Zealand on Tuesday said its Parliamentary Counsel Office, which drafts and publishes laws, had been compromised around the same period.
New Zealand, normally one of China’s strongest backers in the West, blamed the Chinese “state-sponsored group” APT40 for the attack.
Recently elected center-right Prime Minister Christopher Luxon admitted it was a “big step” to blame the cyber attack on China, his country’s biggest trade partner.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he had instructed diplomats to “speak today to the Chinese Ambassador, to lay out our position and express our concerns.”
“That conversation has now taken place,” he said.
Britain and the US operate vast cyber operations of their own, although rarely acknowledge them in public.
The two nations, along with New Zealand, Australia and Canada, are part of the FiveEyes intelligence sharing network that Beijing claims compiles and disseminates false information about threats from Chinese hackers.
WITH AFP