New Delhi: Not only maritime but China's growing aggressiveness is now being witnessed in the form of cyber espionage as Beijing is currently facing a global backlash over hacking allegations and has landed in a soup due to global scrutiny once again.
Serious allegations have emerged from countries like the US, UK, and the New Zealand with authorities in these countries levelling charges, imposing sanctions, and accusing Beijing of directing a vast cyber espionage campaign, affecting millions, including lawmakers, academics, journalists, and companies, notably in the defense sector.
Srikant Kondapalli, the Dean of the School of International Studies and a Professor of Chinese studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi told ETV Bharat that cyber issues are dual-use items and generally all nations are involved in this.
"China accuses the West of over 16 million cyber intrusions a year. However, China does the same for financial and military intelligence and has recently become more aggressive", he said.
Recently, the US Justice Department charged seven Chinese nationals with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud for their involvement in a China-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting US and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of China's economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.
The defendants were Ni Gaobin, Weng Ming Cheng Feng, Peng Yaowe, Sun Xiaohui, Xiong Wang, and Zhao Guangzong, the US Justice Department stated.
As per the US Justice Department, as many as 10,000 malicious emails have been impacting thousands of victims, across multiple continents. The Department of Justice said it will relentlessly pursue, expose, and hold accountable cyber criminals who would undermine democracies and threaten security.
Meanwhile, China has hit back at accusations from the US and UK alleging the Western countries of carrying out a state hacking operation targeting millions of people. A foreign ministry spokesperson said, "Washington and others should stop their cyber attacks, causing political manipulation".
He termed Britain's allegation against China of hacking its electoral commission to be "inadequate". The US and UK had earlier blamed a Chinese state-run cyber unit for these attacks.
According to sources, two Chinese nationals and a company would face sanctions, the UK announced on Monday. The British government alleged Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd of working for the China state-affiliated cyber espionage group, Advanced Persistent Threat Group 31 (APT31).
Rejecting the allegations, Chinese spokesperson Lin Jian, during the regular press briefing, said, "The US and the UK once again hyped up the so-called cyberattacks and claimed they were carried out by China. This is sheer political manipulation. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this".
He also added that China seriously urged the US and the UK to stop politicising cybersecurity issues, and stop smearing and imposing unilateral sanctions on it. "China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its lawful rights and interests," he added.
Read More:
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