US and allies blame China over illegal hacking activities

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The Biden administration has blamed China for its cyberattack on the Microsoft Exchange email server software that compromised thousands of computers worldwide.
• The US is joined by its allied countries, as well as the European Union and NATO, in condemning the Chinese-hacking activities.
• White House officials have already brought their concerns to Chinese authorities.

During a White House press conference Monday, the Biden administration blamed China for hacking the Microsoft Exchange email server software earlier this year. The cyberattack compromised thousands of computers across the globe.

The announcement was made as the US was joined by its allies ━ Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand, as well as the European Union and NATO. One Biden official noted that it was the first time that NATO cried foul over China’s cyber wrongdoing.

“No one action can change China’s behavior in cyberspace and neither can just one country acting on its own,” a senior administration official said. “Our allies and partners are a tremendous source of strength and a unique American advantage, and our collective approach to cyber threat information sharing and defense.” 

The White House and allied nations also revealed a comprehensive range of China’s cyber activities which include ransomware attacks from state-connected hackers who have targeted companies for financial gains.

One US official said that the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Ministry of State Security was tapping hackers to engage in ‘unsanctioned’ international cyber operations in a beneficial agreement. Some of the activities include cyber-enabled extortion, crypto-jacking, and theft.

Another Biden official said that the National Security Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the FBI will reveal over 50 methods and approaches used by the Chinese state-backed hackers in targeting the US and allied nations. They will also issue technical guidelines on how to address such crises.

White House officials said that they already brought their concerns to senior PRC government officials, saying that they were “making clear” that the cyber actions yield “security, confidence, and stability in cyberspace.”

“The US and our allies and partners are not ruling out further actions to hold the PRC accountable,” a senior administration official said.

The Microsoft Exchange hack was initially discovered in January and was attributed by private sector groups to Chinese cyberspies.

According to an administration official, the announcement came only now since the government just recently discovered the ransomware and for-profit hacking operations, and that they wanted to disclose it alongside guidance on the hacking scheme of the Chinese for businesses.

In a previous statement with the Associated Press, a representative from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that their nation “firmly opposes and combats cyberattacks and cyber theft in all forms” and warned that attributing such attacks should be backed with evidence and not from “groundless accusations.”

Source: Fox News