Beijing has once again dismissed claims by the US and Microsoft earlier this year regarding Chinese hackers’ involvement in a high-profile cyberattack known as Volt Typhoon.
In a report on Monday, China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center labelled the claims a “political farce” orchestrated by Washington. The agency stated that over 50 cybersecurity experts from around the globe concurred that there was insufficient evidence to link Volt Typhoon to Beijing.
Microsoft initially identified Volt Typhoon in 2023, with the US government and its allies subsequently warning that a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group had infiltrated US industrial networks for at least five years. Beijing has consistently denied these allegations, with Monday’s report marking the third time this year that China’s cyber defence agency has addressed the Volt Typhoon issue.
The report went on to accuse US intelligence agencies of long-standing deployment of “cyber warfare forces” for reconnaissance and network penetration. It specifically mentioned a tool called Marble, which allegedly can remove links to developers and insert strings in languages such as Chinese and Russian to mislead investigators and implicate China and other nations.
Chinese government officials have a history of refuting hacking allegations and frequently accuse the US of conducting its own cyber operations, albeit without providing concrete evidence. However, a prominent Chinese cybersecurity firm has recently gone public with claims about alleged American attacks.
In 2022, the firm stated that the US was behind a campaign targeting computers in 45 countries and regions, including China. Concurrently, China’s Ministry of State Security has outlined an expanding array of sensitive data it claims foreign forces are pilfering.
This ongoing exchange of accusations highlights the growing tensions in the cyber realm between China and the US, with each side vehemently denying wrongdoing while pointing fingers at the other. As cyber threats continue to evolve and impact critical infrastructure globally, the need for international cooperation and transparent investigations becomes increasingly crucial.
The Volt Typhoon controversy underscores the challenges in attributing cyberattacks to specific state actors and the potential for such allegations to further strain diplomatic relations.
(Photo by Engin Akyurt)
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