Beijing responds to new hacking allegations — RT World News
Recent claims of a China-backed cyberattack are “disinformation”, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
China has dismissed a report by a US cybersecurity firm, which accused Beijing of carrying out a major hack targeting hundreds of people and organizations around the world, calling the charges “wacky and unprofessional”.
On Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded to the allegations, telling reporters that the agency behind them, Mandiant, had a history of false reporting on the People’s Republic.
“The cybersecurity company you mentioned has repeatedly sold disinformation about so-called Chinese hacking attacks. The stories are far-fetched and unprofessional,” Wang said at a daily press briefing.
Mandiant released a lengthy report on Thursday describing an attack by a “aggressive and skilful actor” with “Suspicious links with China” claiming that the hackers engaged in “spy activity” from last October. Attackers allegedly used a vulnerability in Barracuda Networks’ email system to target diplomatic representatives and government agencies across Southeast Asia, including Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Founded in 2004, the company has frequently blamed China for various hacks over the years, rising to prominence in 2012 after another high-profile hacking allegation against Beijing. The company was later acquired by Google for $1.2 billion and remains a subsidiary of the tech giant.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson went on to say that “by reporting on so-called foreign cyberattacks”, some American companies have “become complicit in the US government’s smear campaigns against other countries”, continues to accuse Washington of its own hacking operations.
In April, the Chinese government released a review of alleged US government cyberattacks, saying US intelligence agencies had “encroaches on, divides and suppresses foreign cybersecurity providers” for years. The report describes several major hacking incidents, including a 2010 attack on Iranian nuclear facilities using the Stuxnet virus developed by the United States and Israel, and also highlights Washington’s mass collection surveillance program under the aegis of the National Security Agency.
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