According to a White House statement, the United States first accused China of criminal groups for conducting large-scale hacks, including ransomware attacks to blackmail businesses. Microsoft pointed out a hacker linking to the Chinese Department of Homeland Security in March for exploiting a hole in its email system. According to the White House, a U.S. announcement on Monday morning said the Chinese government hired criminal groups to hack tens of thousands of computers and networks around the world, “mostly costing heavy repairs to civilian victims. It was the first proposal.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Monday that the Chinese Ministry of National Security “cultivated an ecosystem of criminal contract hackers who carry out both state-sponsored activities and cybercrime for their own financial gain.” Stated.

“These contract hackers required governments and businesses to steal billions of dollars in intellectual property, pay ransoms, and mitigate cybersecurity while MSS was paying,” Blinken said. I am.

The criticisms from NATO and the European Union are rare. This is because most of the member states are very reluctant to publicly criticize China, their main trading partner. But even Germany, where companies were hit hard by the hacking of Microsoft Exchange (an email system that companies manage rather than put in the cloud), cited the work of the Chinese government.

“We call on all states, including China, to adhere to international commitments and obligations and act responsibly in international systems, including cyberspace,” a NATO statement said.

Despite Broadside, the announcement lacked the same sanctions that the White House imposed on Russia in April. It accused Russia of a large-scale SolarWinds attack that affected US government agencies and more than 100 companies. (Friday’s Justice Department opened the indictment in May, when it charged Chinese residents in a campaign to hack computer systems from dozens of U.S. companies, universities, and government agencies between 2011 and 2018. Developed a front-end company to hide the role the Chinese government had in supporting the operation, according to the Justice Ministry.)

By imposing sanctions on Russia and organizing allies to blame China, the Byden administration has delved deeper into the Digital Cold War with two major geopolitical adversaries than at any point in modern history. ..

There’s nothing new about digital espionage from Russia and China, and Washington’s efforts to stop it, but the Biden administration is surprisingly willing to call on them and organize a collaborative response. ..

But so far, most outside experts say that the right combination of defensive and offensive behavior to create effective deterrence has not yet been found. And the Russians and Chinese grew more boldly. One of the most sophisticated attacks ever detected in the United States, the SolarWinds attack modifies the code of widely used network management software to access more than 18,000 enterprises, federal agencies, and think tanks. It was an initiative by a major Russian intelligence agency.

China’s efforts were not very sophisticated, but they used vulnerabilities that Microsoft did not discover to spy on them, weakening their confidence in the security of the systems they use for key communications. It took several months for the Biden administration to develop “high credibility,” officials say the hacking of Microsoft’s email system was done at the request of the Department of Homeland Security and was beaten by former private sector officials. .. Hired by a Chinese intelligence agency.

China was last involved in such a large-scale surveillance in 2014, stealing more than 22 million security clearance files from the Human Resources Department and deepening the lives of Americans cleared to maintain the country. I was able to understand. secret.

President Joe Biden has promised to strengthen the government and focused his summit in Geneva with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month on cybersecurity. However, his administration is faced with questions about how to deal with the growing threat from China, especially after Microsoft’s hacks are open to the public.

Government officials admitted that public accusations against China would only do so much to prevent future attacks, he told reporters on Sunday.

“No action can change China’s behavior in cyberspace,” officials said. “And only one country couldn’t act on its own.”

But he said the decision not to impose sanctions on China was also a step that many allies would not agree to take.

Instead, the Biden administration has decided to lock in enough allies to participate in China’s public accusations to maximize pressure on Beijing to reduce cyberattacks, officials said. Said.

The joint statements criticizing China issued by the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the EU, Japan and New Zealand are very widespread. This is also the first such statement from NATO that publicly targeted Beijing for cybercrime.

The National Security Agency, the FBI, cybersecurity and infrastructure security agencies also issued a recommendation on Monday warning that China’s hacks pose a “serious threat” to the United States and its allies. China’s goals include “political, economic, military, educational, and critical infrastructure.”

According to the advisory, government-hired criminal groups aim to steal sensitive data, critical technology, and intellectual property.

The FBI has taken an unusual step in Microsoft’s hacking. In addition to investigating the attack, authorities allow a court to enter an unpatched corporate system and remove elements of code left by Chinese hackers who may allow follow-up attacks. I got the instruction. .. This was the first time the FBI had acted to correct an attack and investigate its perpetrators.

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