The news at a glance
China: A campaign of hacking and espionage
The Biden administration for the first time directly accused China of carrying out state-sponsored cyberattacks, said Zolan Kanno-Youngs and David Sanger in The New York Times. The United States this week issued a set of announcements coordinated with the European Union and all NATO members, and unsealed “a set of indictments of Chinese intelligence officers for stealing intellectual property and medical data.” The U.S. and Britain also “pointed the finger directly at the Chinese government” for the breach of Microsoft Exchange email systems in March, accusing China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) of fostering “an ecosystem of criminal contract hackers.” Still, unlike Russia, China has so far avoided U.S. sanctions.
“For years, China seemed to operate at the quieter end of the statesponsored–hacking spectrum,” said Andy Greenberg in Wired .com, compared with Russia and North Korea. But that changed in 2015, when it transferred control of its cyber operations from the People’s Liberation Army to the MSS. “The MSS has always preferred using intermediaries, front companies, and contractors,” which offers the Chinese government “a layer of deniability.” But it also gives China less control. The White House statement points to a broad and messy collection of Chinese hacking activities. However, thanks to the veil offered by the MSS, China can claim ignorance and appears unlikely to curtail its efforts.