Could China stage ‘cyber 9/11’ attack?

Covid, Hong Kong and Huawei ‘perfect storm’ of tensions

MINISTERS fear China could unleash a devastating online attack on Britain – being dubbed a ‘cyber-9/11’ – amid increasing tensions between London and Beijing.

Senior sources say ‘a perfect storm’ of diplomatic rows over Hong Kong, the tech giant Huawei and Covid-19 could lead to an all-out attack by Chinese-backed hackers.

The warning comes as the Government prepares to formally announce a U-turn that would block Huawei from helping to build Britain’s superfast 5G mobile network.

After Australia adopted a similar hard line, it was hit by a large-scale cyber-attack.

Boris Johnson has also infuriated the Chinese Communist Party with his tough stance on Beijing’s clampdown on Hong Kong’s freedoms and calls for an inquiry into the true source of coronavirus, which is suspected to have leaked from a Wuhan laboratory.

Security chiefs fear that, in a worst-case scenario, statesponsored attacks would cripple computer networks, leading to phone and power blackouts and bringing UK hospitals, government and businesses to a halt. Meanwhile, in other developments:

• Steve Bannon, who was Donald Trump’s White House Chief Strategist, told The Mail on Sunday that spies were building a case that the Covid-19 pandemic had been caused by a leak from the Institute of Virology in Wuhan – and that the subsequent cover-up amounted to ‘pre-meditated murder’;

• Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence select committee, warned that China posed more of a threat to the UK than Soviet Russia did during the Cold War, saying: ‘China is infinitely richer than the USSR ever was. It is also more subtle and long-term in its strategy than anything dreamt up by Stalin or Khrushchev’;

• Respected Chinese virologist Dr Li-Meng Yan – who has fled to America because she ‘knows how [Beijing] treats whistleblowers’ – claimed the authorities knew about the coronavirus outbreak in December, weeks before admitting it to the world.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has briefed Mr Johnson on the assault on his nation that he said targeted ‘government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure’ last month.

Although the Australian government did not publicly name China as being responsible, it is understood officials concluded that the attack was linked to tensions with Beijing – despite China denying any involvement.

Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre says it is not ‘expecting’ a rise in attacks. But as Britain is poised to dramatically harden its relations toward China, it is believed there could be retaliation.

One senior Minister said: ‘Obviously this is part of our conversations. But at the same time, all risk must be looked at in the round. Huawei is a menace and not acting on it risks national security. Actions however, have consequences and cannot be discounted.’

Shadow Security Minister Conor McGinn said: ‘The Government must be alert to the risk of cyber attacks from hostile states and prepare.’

Global strategist Dr Alan Mendoza, from the Henry Jackson Society foreign policy think-tank, added: ‘Chinaproofing our critical systems must now become an urgent priority for the Government to avert a possible crisis.’

Tory MP Mr Ellwood added: ‘Any notion that China can be trusted must surely have been dispelled following its initial – and disastrous – attempts to conceal the Covid-19 pandemic.’