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The FBI has said that China has the biggest hacking program of any country.

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Agence France-Presse

<p>The United States has said it successfully dismantled a China-based hacking network known as &quot;Volt Typhoon&quot;, accusing it of infiltrating critical US infrastructure networks with the goal of disabling them in the event of conflict.</p><p>The group -- active since 2021 -- is allegedly primed to cripple sectors spanning communications, transportation and government.</p><p>The FBI has said that China has the biggest hacking program of any country.</p><p>Beijing has dismissed the claims as &quot;groundless&quot; -- and pointed to the United States&#x27; own history of cyber espionage.</p><p>Here&#x27;s what we know about Beijing&#x27;s hacking operations:</p><div><strong>- &#x27;Persistent threat&#x27; -</strong></div><p>Washington has warned that China represents &quot;the broadest, most active, and persistent cyber espionage threat&quot; to its government and private sector.</p><p>Its hackers have become adept in recent years at breaking into rival nations&#x27; digital systems to gather trade secrets, according to researchers and Western intelligence officials.</p><p>In 2021, the United States, NATO and other allies said China had employed &quot;contract hackers&quot; to exploit a breach in Microsoft email systems, giving state security agents access to sensitive information.</p><p>Chinese spies have also hacked the US energy department, utility companies, telecommunications firms and universities, according to US government statements and media reports.</p><p>Beijing has been linked to 90 cyber espionage campaigns since the turn of the century -- 30 percent more than its close partner Russia, Benjamin Jensen, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Congress last year.</p><div><strong>- Striking infrastructure -</strong></div><p>Microsoft said last May that it had detected a campaign by China-backed Volt Typhoon against critical US infrastructure.</p><p>&quot;Observed behaviour suggests that the threat actor intends to perform espionage and maintain access without being detected for as long as possible,&quot; Microsoft said, adding that the goal was to be able to disrupt communications infrastructure in the United States and Asia during crises.</p><p>In November, the company said Volt Typhoon was trying to improve its methods and had added universities to its target list.</p><p>US authorities said they removed the group&#x27;s malware from compromised US-based routers.</p><p>Volt Typhoon appeared to be a highly sophisticated operation that could originate from a &quot;specialised cyber intrusion contractor&quot;, Matthew Brazil, a Senior Fellow at The Jamestown Foundation and a former US diploma, told AFP.</p><p>Wednesday&#x27;s announcement could mean the United States directly immobilised the hackers at the source, Brazil said, though that remains unclear.</p><p>&quot;If so, the stakes seem to be rising... with China deciding to prepare for war by engaging in these aggressive actions and the US taking off the gloves and disabling that capability,&quot; he added.</p><p>Intelligence agencies bosses from the Five Eyes -- an information-sharing alliance of major English-speaking countries -- met in October for the first time ever and for one reason: China.</p><p>Mike Burgess, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, told the gathering that the meeting would focus on &quot;behaviour that goes well beyond traditional espionage&quot;.</p><p>His UK counterpart said his country was monitoring &quot;massive amounts&quot; of Chinese cyber activity every week.</p><div><strong>- &#x27;Biggest hacking empire&#x27; -</strong></div><p>The United States has its own ways of spying on China, deploying surveillance, interception techniques, and networks of informants.</p><p>And Washington&#x27;s own forays into cyber warfare, online surveillance and hacking are well-documented.</p><p>Beijing points to these examples when attention turns to its cyber-attacks, accusing Washington of being &quot;world&#x27;s biggest hacking empire&quot;.</p><p>It flatly denies allegations that it engages in state-organised hacking operations of overseas targets, dismissing Microsoft&#x27;s report from last May as &quot;extremely unprofessional&quot;.</p><p>Last July, public security officials in Wuhan said they had discovered a cyberattack on the central city&#x27;s earthquake monitoring centre, which they said originated in the United States.</p><p>Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at the time that the attack represented a grave threat to the country&#x27;s national security.</p><p>&quot;The US government is engaged in malicious cyber operations against not just China... while blaming China for so-called &#x27;hacking attacks&#x27;,&quot; Mao said.</p><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ld6zGg6UJu8?&amp;t=206s&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>The FBI has said that China has the biggest hacking program of any country.</p>

What we know about China's alleged state-backed hacking

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What we know about China's alleged state-backed hacking

Agence France-Presse

Published Feb 01, 2024 06:26 PM PHT

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Updated Feb 01, 2024 10:29 PM PHT

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