Beijing declares accusations of Chinese ‘government hackers’ as nonsense
China has reacted sharply today to accusations from the US and Britain about Chinese government hackers who would have done large-scale cyber theft.
“The Chinese government has never participated, or never supported the stealing of trade secrets,” said the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson today. According to her, Beijing has filed “formal protest” against the accusations of the US. “We want them to immediately stop smothering us.”
Theft of confidential information
Yesterday, two computer hackers who had links with the Chinese intelligence services in the US were indicted. The two would have targeted networks in the US and in other Western countries to steal confidential commercial and technical information.
According to the American authorities, it is Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong, who are part of the hacker group “Advanced Persistent Threat 10” and currently reside in China. According to the deed of accusation, the two worked for Huaying Haitai, in collaboration with the Chinese State Security Ministry.
Targeting companies and government agencies
The hackers focused on companies in aviation, aerospace and satellite technology, as well as US government agencies such as the Navy and NASA. Other countries that were targeted included Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden.
