U.S. and British officials accused Beijing of cyber-attack and imposed sanctions on Monday, accusing Beijing of targeting millions of lawmakers, academics, journalists, and defense contractors.
Authorities on both sides of the Atlantic called the hacking organization APT31, an affiliate of China’s Ministry of State Security, have been targeted by U.S. and U.K. officials, including White House staff, senators, and international lawmakers.
The global hacking operation aimed to “repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutions, and steal trade secrets,” Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.
Seven Chinese hackers have been indicted for unauthorized access to millions of Americans’ work accounts, personal emails, and phone calls, while London officials accuse APT31 of hacking anti-China British MPs.
Chinese diplomats in Britain and the U.S. dismissed the allegations as unwarranted. The Chinese Embassy in London called the charges “completely fabricated and malicious slanders.”
Reuters could not immediately locate contact information for the seven alleged hackers being charged by the Department of Justice.
The statements came as Britain and the U.S. sanctioned a Ministry of State Security front company linked to hacking. The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science & Technology and two Chinese persons.
“Today’s announcement exposes China’s continuous and brash efforts to undermine our nation’s cybersecurity and target Americans and our innovation,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
Tensions over issues relating to cyberespionage have been rising between Beijing and Washington, as Western intelligence agencies have increasingly sounded the alarm on alleged Chinese state-backed hacking activity.
China has criticized Western hacking, accusing the NSA of frequently infiltrating Huawei Technologies, with numerous unnamed victims worldwide cited in the U.S. indictment.
Prosecutors said Chinese hackers targeted U.S. presidential campaign staff in 2020. Google said Chinese hackers had sent phishing emails to Joe Biden’s campaign at the time, but no compromise had been reached. An American public opinion research firm was hacked in 2018, the year of a U.S. midterm election.
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