US, Allies Accuse China of Backing Cyber Attacks Worldwide
The United States, NATO and several allies collectively called out China on Monday for a series of malicious cyber- and ransomware attacks, including a March attack that exploited a flaw in Microsoft’s Exchange Server.
Monday’s announcement, which followed a conference call with White House reporters Sunday night, marks the first time NATO, a military alliance formed to confront the threat posed by the former Soviet Union, has formally condemned China for its allegedly malicious cyber activities.
According to the U.S. and its allies, China’s Ministry of State Security is using contract hackers to conduct the attacks, many of which are being done for profit, including via ransomware.
The March attack using the Exchange flaw crippled tens of thousands of computers around the world.
“We’ve raised our concerns about both the Microsoft incident and the [China’s] broader malicious cyber activity with senior [Chinese] government officials, making clear that these actions threaten security, confidence, and stability in cyberspace,” a senior White House official said Sunday night.
As part of Monday’s announcement, the Justice Department unveiled criminal charges against four Ministry of State Security hackers for a “multiyear campaign targeting foreign governments and entities in key sectors, including maritime, aviation, defense, education, and health care in a least a dozen countries.”
Microsoft had previously said it believed a hacking group known as HAFNIUM, a Chinese-state sponsored hacking group, was exploiting the vulnerabilities in the program.
U.S. officials had said they were working to attribute the hack, which was first detected in March. Hackers used zero-day exploits to attack versions of Microsoft’s Exchange Server application and hack into victims’ email accounts.
The White House official attributed the delay between the March event and today’s announcement to the desire to definitively nail down who the bad actors were and to coordinate a response — “a collective defense partnership,” with global partners.
“[China’s] pattern of irresponsible behavior in cyberspace is inconsistent with its stated objective of being seen as a responsible leader in the world,” the official said.
“Countries around the world are making it clear that concerns regarding the PRC’s malicious cyber activity is bringing them together to call out this activity, promote network defense and cybersecurity, and act to disrupt threats to our economies and national security,” the official added.
Despite its concern over China’s alleged cyber activities, the White House official said the U.S. is holding off taking specific actions to punish the Chinese government, but leaving the door open to taking action in the future.
“The U.S. and our allies and partners are not ruling out further actions to hold [China] accountable,” the official said. “We are putting forward a common cyber approach with our allies and laying down clear expectations on how responsible nations behave in cyberspace.”
