China denies Microsoft hack, condemns U.S. allies

Four Chinese nationals had been charged with hacking

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Tuesday sharply denied US allegations it carried out a massive Microsoft hack, countering that Washington was the “world champion” of cyber attacks while raging at American allies for signing up to a rare joint statement of condemnation.

The United States on Monday accused Beijing of carrying out the cyber attack on Microsoft and charged four Chinese nationals over the “malicious” hack in March.

The Microsoft hack, which exploited flaws in the Microsoft Exchange service, affected at least 30,000 US organizations including local governments as well as organizations worldwide.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the attack on Microsoft Exchange, a top email server for corporations around the world, was part of a “pattern of irresponsible, disruptive and destabilizing behavior in cyberspace, which poses a major threat to our economic and national security.”

Affected at least 30,000 US organizations.

China’s Ministry of State Security, or MSS, “has fostered an ecosystem of criminal contract hackers who carry out both statesponsored activities and cybercrime for their own financial gain,” Blinken said in a statement.

In a simultaneous announcement, the US Department of Justice said four Chinese nationals had been charged with hacking the computers of dozens of companies, universities and government bodies in the United States and abroad between 2011 and 2018.

The Chinese embassy in New Zealand issued a swift rebuttal of the “totally groundless and irresponsible” allegations.

It was backed up by the embassy in Australia, as China took a coordinated stance of its own, accusing Canberra of “parroting the rhetoric of the US.”

“It is well known that the US has engaged in unscrupulous, massive and indiscriminate eavesdropping on many countries including its allies,” the embassy said in a statement.

“It is the world champion of malicious cyber attacks.”