US hackers attacked thousands of servers in China, news report claims
- Accusations follow condemnation by US and allies of global cyberattacks they say were orchestrated by Beijing
- Three cases of alleged US cyberattacks against Chinese universities and sensitive facilities outlined by Global Times website
The news website of the Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the People’s Daily, did not specify where its information was from, but outlined three cases of “malicious cyber activities” between August and October last year which allegedly targeted the servers of sensitive facilities to prime them for later intrusion and infiltration opportunities.
In October, a US hacker group allegedly attacked 2,426 servers in China, most at government and party facilities, as well as a power train company, a steel plant and some universities, according to the report.
What are the hacking accusations against China?
Another attack was launched in the same month against as many as 993 university servers in Guangxi, Guangdong and Shanxi provinces, as well as a provincial technology committee and a commerce bureau, the Global Times claimed, without providing specific details.
The report also said 119 servers at universities in the southern province of Guangdong and the capital Beijing were targeted by US hackers in August.
According to the Global Times, “a significant portion” of US hackers used high-frequency, “brute-force” cracking tactics as reconnaissance, gaining as much information about the targeted networks as possible before launching high-frequency probing attacks against their weak points.
Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the European Union and Nato joined in US condemnation of China’s alleged involvement in the hack. The US Department of Justice also said on Tuesday it had indicted four Chinese nationals accused of carrying out cyberattacks in 12 countries.
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A furious Beijing hit back, with Chinese missions in Norway, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and the EU calling the accusation “groundless”.
The Chinese mission to the EU did not name the US, but said “a certain country in the West” had long conducted “massive” eavesdropping, even on friendly countries.
China’s embassy in Canada went further, pointing the finger directly at the US government which it said had “violated international law and the basic norms in international relations by carrying out large-scale, organising and indiscriminate cyber theft, wiretapping and surveillance of foreign governments, enterprises and individuals, including allies”.
“The United States is the world’s largest ‘hacker empire’,” the statement published on the embassy’s website said. “China has also been a serious victim of US cybertheft, eavesdropping and surveillance. The facts prove that the US and the West are not qualified to tell other countries what to do when it comes to cybersecurity.”
