Beijing denies being behind cyberattacks targeting Washington, London and Wellington

China on Tuesday rejected accusations from the American, British and New Zealand governments of being behind several cyberattacks against their public institutions, and said it had “firmly protested to the United States and relevant parties”.

Beijing “has firmly protested to the United States and relevant parties and will take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” said Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Washington “joined forces with the United Kingdom to highlight these so-called Chinese cyberattacks,” he denounced.

In rare, detailed public accusations pointing to Beijing, the three governments denounced a series of cyberattacks in recent years, in an apparently concerted move to hold China accountable.

This operation required the sending of more than 10,000 emails targeting companies, politicians, electoral candidates and journalists working in the United States and abroad, Deputy Justice Minister Lisa Monaco said on Monday.

According to Washington, a group called APT31 is at the origin of this “cyber espionage program” which would have been managed by the powerful Chinese Ministry of State Security from the city of Wuhan (center).

The hackers had access to “email accounts, cloud storage accounts (cloud, editor’s note) and telephone call recordings,” said the US Department of Justice.

– “Historical challenge” –

Shortly after, British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden announced to parliament in London that “actors affiliated with the Chinese state” had committed “two malicious cyber actions” in 2020 and 2021.

He denounced cyberattacks against parliamentarians critical of Beijing and against the United Kingdom Electoral Commission.

“This is the latest in a series of hostile activities by China, which includes targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians in the United Kingdom and other countries,” he said at the time. that London must hold legislative elections in a few months.

The attack on the Electoral Commission allowed access to servers containing copies of electoral registers with the data of 40 million voters, according to British media.

According to Mr. Dowden, this cyberattack will not have an impact on the next election.

But the Chinese ambassador will be summoned, he said, and two individuals and their organization will also be subject to sanctions for their “involvement in malicious cyber activities”, in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the world.

They are Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, both members of the APT31 organization, also sanctioned by the United States.

Wanting to be reassuring, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared that the United Kingdom would do “what is necessary” to ensure its security and protect itself in the face of the “historic challenge” posed by an “increasingly assertive” China.

– “Slander” –

In response, the Chinese embassy in Great Britain denounced the accusations as “totally unfounded” and “slander”.

In a coordinated announcement, Wellington accused a group linked to Beijing of having hacked in 2021 the computer system of the parliamentary office responsible for developing and publishing laws.

New Zealand’s cybersecurity agency has linked a Chinese “state-backed” group known as “APT40” to a cyberattack on parliament services, the country’s minister said on Tuesday. Defense Judith Collins.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon admitted to the press that attributing the cyberattack to China was an “important step”, likely to cast a chill on good relations with the country’s main trading partner.

Wellington expressed his protests to the Chinese ambassador in the country, said the head of New Zealand diplomacy, Winston Peters.

The Chinese embassy in Wellington rejected these “unfounded” accusations and expressed its “strong dissatisfaction”.

In recent years, Western countries have become increasingly willing to denounce malicious cyber operations and point the finger at foreign governments, particularly China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

In September 2023, Mr. Sunak had already denounced to his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang “interference” from Beijing in the Westminster parliament, after the revelation of two arrests for espionage that had occurred six months previously.

The United States, the United Kingdom as well as New Zealand, Australia and Canada are part of the Five Eyes intelligence exchange network.

LNT with Afp