Hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted New Zealand’s Parliament in 2021, the country’s security minister said Tuesday.
New Zealand’s allegation comes a day after American and British authorities announced a set of criminal charges and sanctions against seven hackers, all believed to be living in China, who targeted U.S. officials, journalists, corporations and pro-democracy activists, as well as the U.K.’s election watchdog.
“The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Judith Collins, the defense minister responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau, said in a statement.
Collins said the agency had also established links between a state-sponsored entity linked to China and malicious cyber activity targeting parliamentary entities in New Zealand.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
New Zealand’s allegation comes a day after American and British authorities announced a set of criminal charges and sanctions against seven hackers, all believed to be living in China, who targeted U.S. officials, journalists, corporations, pro-democracy activists and the U.K.’s election watchdog.
“The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) Judith Collins said in a media statement.
“Fortunately, in this instance, the NCSC worked with the impacted organizations to contain the activity and remove the actor shortly after they were able to access the network.”
Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed New Zealand’s concerns had been conveyed to the Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong.
“Foreign interference of this nature is unacceptable, and we have urged China to refrain from such activity in future,” Peters said in a statement Tuesday.
Peters met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi last week and said the countries share a “significant and complex relationship”.
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