On Monday, the UK government disclosed that China was responsible for a series of cyber attacks targeting Members of Parliament (MPs), peers, and the Electoral Commission. These attacks included unauthorized access to the personal information of more than 40 million voters.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office released a statement asserting that, with the backing of allies within the Five Eyes partnership, they have conclusively attributed two malicious cyber campaigns to China state-affiliated actors. These campaigns specifically targeted democratic institutions and parliamentarians.
This recent revelation adds to a consistent pattern of malicious cyber activity carried out by China state-affiliated entities and individuals. Their targets have extended beyond the UK, encompassing democratic institutions and parliamentarians in other regions as well.
The UK government has revealed that the National Cyber Security Centre assessed it to be highly likely that China state-affiliated cyber actor APT31 conducted reconnaissance activity against parliamentarians in 2021. In response, the government has imposed sanctions on a front company and two actors associated with APT31’s operations.
In August 2021, the UK’s elections watchdog disclosed that a cyber attack had occurred, compromising voters’ data. However, this breach was only discovered in October 2022.
The perpetrators gained unauthorized access to the Commission’s servers, which contained email systems, control infrastructure, and copies of the electoral registers used for verifying political donations.
These registers included the names and addresses of all individuals registered to vote in Britain between 2014 and 2022.
Recently, the UK government revealed that the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a division of GCHQ, assessed that the Electoral Commission, responsible for overseeing elections and regulating political finance, was highly likely compromised by a China state-affiliated entity.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has expressed concern about China’s behavior, characterizing it as assertive abroad and authoritarian at home. He views China as an epoch-defining challenge and the most significant state-based threat to economic security.
China has dismissed the United Kingdom’s allegations of cyberattacks, labeling them as slander. China has dismissed the United Kingdom’s allegations of cyberattacks, labeling them as slander.
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