U.S., U.K. accuse China of cyberespionage that hit millions

U.S. and British officials on Monday filed charges, imposed sanctions, and accused Beijing of a sweeping cyberespionage campaign that allegedly hit millions of people including lawmakers, academics and journalists, and companies including defence contractors.

Authorities on both sides of the Atlantic nicknamed the hacking group Advanced Persistent Threat 31 or “APT31,” calling it an arm of China’s Ministry of State Security. Officials reeled off a laundry list of targets: White House staffers, U.S. senators, British parliamentarians, and government officials across the world who criticized of Beijing.

Few other victims were identified by name, but American officials said that the hackers’ decade-plus spying spree compromised defence contractors, dissidents and a variety of U.S. companies, including American steel, energy, and apparel firms. Among the targets were leading providers of 5G mobile telephone equipment and wireless technology. Even the spouses of senior U.S. officials and lawmakers were targeted, the officials said.

The aim of the global hacking operation was to “repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutions, and steal trade secrets,” Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.

In an indictment unsealed on Monday against seven of the alleged Chinese hackers, U.S. prosecutors in court said the hacking resulted in the confirmed or potential compromise of work accounts, personal emails, online storage and telephone call records belonging to millions of Americans.

Officials in London accused APT31 of hacking British lawmakers critical of China and said that a second group of Chinese spies was behind the hack of Britain’s electoral watchdog that separately compromised the data of millions more people in the United Kingdom.

Chinese diplomats in Britain and the U.S. dismissed the allegations as unwarranted. The Chinese Embassy in London called the charges “completely fabricated and malicious slanders.”

Reuters was not immediately able to locate contact information for the seven alleged hackers being charged by the Department of Justice.

Britain and U.S. impose sanctions

The announcements were made as both Britain and the U.S. imposed sanctions on a firm they said was a Ministry of State Security front company tied to the hacking activity.

The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said the sanctions were on Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology, as well as on two Chinese nationals.

“Today’s announcement exposes China’s continuous and brash efforts to undermine our nation’s cybersecurity and target Americans and our innovation,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

Tensions over issues relating to cyberespionage have been rising between Beijing and Washington, as Western intelligence agencies have increasingly sounded the alarm on alleged Chinese state-backed hacking activity.