United States Charged Suspected Chinese Hack Hackers
Jose Nino
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Toward the end of March, the Biden regime slapped suspected Chinese hackers with sanctions and criminal charges. This came at a time when the British government also accused the Chinese government of hacking the United Kingdom’s electoral register to steal the personal data of tens of millions of voters.
This is part of a global campaign to confront the Chinese government over its alleged malfeasances in cyberspace.
Many Western national security officials argue that these hacking operations are global in nature and are coordinated by Chinese intelligence agencies.
Western officials argue that the Chinese government is not only looking to carry out mass espionage but also install hackers into sensitive computer networks to prepare for a potential conflict and to undermine the stability of so-called liberal democracies.
The US Treasury Department announced that it had slapped sanctions on Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, blaming it for allegedly acting as a front company for China’s Ministry of State Security to provide cover for several malicious cyberattacks. The Treasury Department also sanctioned two Chinese nationals, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, who it claimed were connected to the Wuhan-based company and had allegedly launched attacks against American critical infrastructure. The UK imposed matching sanctions.
The alleged hackers, in addition to five other defendants, were also indicted on criminal charges unsealed by the US Justice Department. The US State Department put forward a $10 million reward for information concerning the organization.
“The United States will continue its work to disrupt the dangerous and irresponsible actions of cyber actors targeting critical infrastructure,” stated Brian Nelson, a senior Treasury Department official. “Through continued close coordination with our U.K. partners, and a unified, whole of government approach, we will protect our citizens from the catastrophic risks these reckless cyber activities pose.”
The U.K.’s Electoral Commission, which oversees the island nation’s elections, said in 2023 that hackers had gained access to the nation’s voter-registration record, which featured the names and addresses of close to 40 million people.
Additionally, these hackers allegedly gained access to the commission’s email system and information concerning political donors. The hackers gained access to the system in 2021 but were only discovered toward the end of 2022, the commission said at that particular moment.
Western governments have become increasingly worried at China’s allegedly escalatory cyber strategy. They even assert that the Chinese government is carrying out the largest hacking operation in the world and that it constitutes a serious threat to both national security and private enterprise. Officials are particularly concerned with how hackers could potentially break into sensitive networks during a time of geopolitical crisis, especially during a hypothetical invasion of Taiwan.
China poses an unconventional challenge to the US.
As a result, this will require the US to pursue creative solutions such as immigration restriction and economic nationalism. The former is important because if the US continued allowing Chinese nationals to migrate freely into the country, further cyberattacks will likely occur.
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