Press
A cyber attack worries Great Britain. Some Tories blame China. Despite Xi’s EU tour, Europe is not spared.
London – While Chinese leader Xi Jinping is going through the European Union travels, the former EU member state Great Britain has to deal with another cyber attack. It is estimated that the attack on the Department of Defense’s externally managed payroll system affected approximately 270,000 records. Although there has not yet been any information about a possible mastermind and it is unclear whether data was stolen at all, one country is already suspected: China.
On Tuesday (May 7th) the hacker attack on the Ministry of Defense that was discovered a few days ago will be discussed in the British Parliament. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps is expected to speak to MPs BBC inform about the events and present a “multi-point plan” for dealing with the situation. The records suspected of being affected include names, bank details and, in some cases, addresses of current and some former employees of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
‘Pattern of malicious cyber activity’: Tory wants to see China’s hand in latest hacker attack
There have been increasing warnings of cybersecurity threats in the UK recently. Already in March 2024 accused The UK government blamed China for two hacker attacks between 2021 and 2022 and responded with sanctions for the hacker group APT31 (“Advanced Persistent Threat 31”) Radio Free Asia was allegedly financed by the Chinese government. “This is the latest in a clear pattern of malicious cyber activity by Chinese state-owned organizations and individuals,” the statement said.
There is now a suspicion that Chinese actors were also at work in this hacker attack. In December 2023, the National Cybersecurity Center also suspected Russian secret services behind “malicious cyber activities”. Tobias Ellwood, a former soldier and current MP for the Conservative Party, said Sky News, that China “likely preyed on the financially weak to extort them in exchange for cash.” “This points to China,” he explained BBC.
“China should be immediately classified as a threat,” former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said loudly shortly after the government statement in March The Guardian. The latest cyber attack confirms his position, as he said BBC said: “China is a malign actor supporting Russia with money and military equipment and collaborating with Iran and North Korea in a new axis of totalitarian states.” Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye emphasized loudly DW another stance by China that favors “neither party.”
China reacts: blaming cyberattack on “anti-Chinese political farce”
China called the assumptions BBC According to him, a “fabricated and malicious slander”. The Chinese Embassy in Britain said China had no reason to “interfere in the internal affairs of the United Kingdom.” An embassy spokesman said this Guardian “We call on relevant parties in the UK to stop the spread of misinformation, stop fabricating so-called China threat narratives and end their anti-China political farce.”
The Ministry of Defense has the billing system, according to the BBC immediately taken offline and investigations and assistance measures for those affected were initiated. “It looks serious based on the information currently available, but it is at the lower end of severity,” said former head of the National Cyber Security Center Prof. Ciaran Martin, according to the news site The National News by BBC-Radio format “Today”.
The UK is not the only country to have fallen victim to suspected Chinese cyberattacks. According to media reports, there have also been repeated alleged Chinese hacker attacks in countries in the European Union. This also includes a hacker scandal from Denmark, which the APT31 group is also said to be behind. The case about the AfD– MEP Maximilian Krah and another major cyber attack made the topic of Chinese espionage topical again in Germany. Not least because of this, Xi Jinping’s tour through Europe, starting in France, is characterized by a lot of potential for conflict. (lismah)
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