China accuses Microsoft of hacking, says the US and its allies are infiltrating

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(Bloomberg) – China denies accusations by the US, UK and their allies that actors with ties to the Asian nation’s government were behind the Microsoft Exchange hack and “other malicious cyber activities”. “.

“The United States has colluded with its allies and made unwarranted accusations against China on cyber security,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. China Zhao Lijian said Tuesday at a regular news conference in Beijing. “It is purely politically motivated smear and oppression. China will never accept this.”

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Zhao added that the details released by the US “do not constitute a complete chain of evidence. In fact, the US is the biggest source of cyberattacks in the world.”

Watch: US, UK, Allies Tie Chinese Government to Microsoft Hack

The group of countries says the Chinese government is the mastermind behind a series of malicious ransomware, data-stealing and cyber-espionage attacks targeting public and private entities, including the… hack Microsoft Exchange earlier this year.

The allegations have heightened tensions between China and the US over issues ranging from policy in the western region of Xinjiang and Hong Kong to the origins of the coronavirus. Last week, the Biden administration warned investors about the risks of doing business in the Asian financial hub, offering advice that China’s increased control of the city threatens the rule of law and jeopardize employees and data.

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“The Chinese government must put an end to this systematic cyber-sabotage and could be held accountable if it doesn’t,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.

President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House on Monday that the investigation was not over but that the Chinese government was held accountable. His administration says it is engaging with European nations to expose the scale of China’s activity and will take steps to combat it.

According to a senior Biden administration official, the group of countries responsible for the attack on China included Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and NATO, marking the first condemnation of the North American alliance- Europe to China’s cyber activities.

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“Under the encouragement of the United States, NATO has turned cyberspace into a new battlefield,” Zhao said at the briefing in Beijing. “Putting a military alliance into cyberspace, not only does not achieve its own security, but could instead incite an arms race online and increase the risk of friction and disputes in the air.” cyberspace, and at the same time can undermine international peace and security.”

As part of the announcement, the National Security Agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation detailed more than 50 tactics used by Chinese state-sponsored cyber hackers. used when targeting US and allied networks, including phishing emails with malicious attachments, exploits of overt applications, and drive-by compromises.

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Microsoft Corporation welcomes the global effort to attribute attacks and calls for future accountability.

The company previously attributed the hack to Chinese actors, a software giant known as Hafnium. The US review seems to support Microsoft’s conclusion that the attack was caused by agents linked to MSS with “a high degree of confidence,” according to the fact sheet.

The attack on Microsoft’s Exchange email servers exploded in the two weeks between late February and early March. Microsoft first released software patches on March 2 to fix critical vulnerabilities exploited in the hack. The attack exposed tens of thousands of victims’ email systems, including those of healthcare facilities, manufacturers, energy companies, state and local governments.

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