Organisations, companies and governments in a number of countries have alleged
incidents of "hacking" or espionage by China.
Australia
In May 2013, ABC News claimed that China hacked plans for the headquarters of the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.[19]
Canada
Officials in the Canadian government claim that Chinese hackers have compromised
several departments within the federal government in early 2011, though the Chinese
government has refused involvement.[20]
Canada's Chief Information Officer claims that Chinese hackers compromised computer
systems within the National Research Council in 2014.[21]
India
Officials in the Indian government have alleged that attacks on Indian government
networks, such as that of the Indian National Security Council, have originated in
China. According to the government, Chinese hackers are experts in operating botnets.
[22]
United States
The United States has accused China of cyberespionage against American interests,
accessing the networks of important military, commercial, research, and industrial
organisations. A Congress advisory group has declared China "the single greatest risk to
the security of American technologies"[23] and that "there has been a marked increase in
cyber intrusions originating in China and targeting U.S. government and defense-related
computer systems".[23][24][25]
In January 2010, Google reported on targeted attacks on its corporate infrastructure
originating from China "that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google".
Apparently, the Gmail accounts of two human rights activists were compromised in the
raid on Google's password system.[26] American security experts connected the Google
attack to various other political and corporate espionage efforts originating from China,
including espionage against military, commercial, research, and industrial corporations.
Obama administration officials called the cyberattacks "an increasingly serious cyber
threat to US critical industries".[24]
In addition to Google, at least 34 companies have been attacked. Reported cases include
Northrop Grumman, Symantec, Yahoo, Dow Chemical, and Adobe Systems.[27]
Cyberespionage has been aimed at both commercial and military interests[28][28]
Diplomatic cables highlight US concerns that China is using access to Microsoft source
code to boost its offensive and defensive capabilities.[29]
A number of private computer security firms have stated that they have growing
evidence of cyber-espionage efforts originating from China, including the "Comment
Group".[30]
China has denied accusations of cyberwarfare,[8] and has accused The United States of
engaging in cyberwarfare against it, accusations which the United States denies.[9]
Wang Baodong of the Chinese Embassy in the United States responded that the
accusations are a result of sinophobic paranoia.[8] He states that, "China would never do
anything to harm sovereignty or security of other countries. In conformity with such
national policies, the Chinese government has never employed, nor will it employ so-
called civilian hackers in collecting information or intelligence of other countries.
Allegations against China in this respect are totally unwarranted, which only reflect the
dark mentality of certain people who always regard China as a threat."[8]
As of March 2013, high level discussions continued.[31]
In May 2014 a Federal Grand Jury in the United States indicted five PLA Unit 61398
officers on charges of theft of confidential business information from U.S. commercial
firms and planting malware on their computers.[32][33]
In September 2014, a Senate Armed Services Committee probe found hackers associated
with the Chinese government had repeatedly infiltrated the computer systems of U.S.
airlines, technology companies and other contractors involved in the movement of U.S.
troops and military equipment,[34] and in October 2014, The FBI said that hackers it
believes to be backed by the Chinese government have recently launched attacks on U.S.
companies.[35]
In 2015, the U.S Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that it had been
the target of a data breach targeting the records of as many as 21.5 million people.[36]
The Washington Post has reported that the attack originated in China, citing unnamed
government officials.[37] FBI Director James Comey stated: "It is a very big deal from a
national security perspective and from a counterintelligence perspective. It’s a treasure
trove of information about everybody who has worked for, tried to work for, or works
for the United States government."[38]
IP hijacking
During an 18-minute stretch on 8 April 2010, state-owned China Telecom advertised
erroneous network routes that instructed "massive volumes" of U.S. and other foreign
Internet traffic to go through Chinese servers. A US Defense Department spokesman,
told reporters that he did not know if "we've determined whether that particular incident
... was done with some malicious intent or not" and China Telecom denied the charge
that it "hijacked" U.S. Internet traffic.[39]
