The British Foreign Office on Tuesday (26) summoned Yang Xiaoguang, the charge-in-charge of the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom, because of alleged “malicious cyber activity” by companies and individuals linked to China.
“The Foreign Office has expressed the government's unequivocal condemnation of Chinese state-linked organizations and individuals engaging in malicious cyber activity against the UK's democratic institutions and its Members of Parliament,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.
The London government said it “will not tolerate such threatening actions and will continue to take strong action in response with its partners around the world”.
The call follows Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden's announcement in the House of Commons on Monday (25) that Britain has imposed tough and targeted sanctions against a company and two individuals involved in China's malicious cyber activity targeting officials, government bodies and members of parliament. All over the world.”
Dowden confirmed in his presentation that agents linked to the Chinese government were responsible for two cyber campaigns targeting the Election Commission and members of parliament.
Attacks against the electoral commission in August 2021 “suffered a sophisticated cyber attack” in which Beijing-linked agents accessed the commission's emails and filing systems, according to Dowden.
In addition, the National Cyber Security Center said “a Chinese state-linked actor known as APT31 attempted to carry out espionage operations against the accounts of British Members of Parliament during a separate campaign in 2021,” according to the deputy prime minister.
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