The government of Czech Republic has blamed China for an attempt to hack the website of its foreign affairs ministry.
In a statement on 28 May, the government said it had concluded that the People’s Republic of China was responsible for a malicious cyber campaign targeting one of the unclassified networks of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Long history of malicious attack
The Czech government stated that the malicious activity around one of its critical infrastructure has been on since 2022, and was allegedly perpetrated by the cyberespionage actor APT31 which is publicly associated with China’s Ministry of State Security.
According to the statement, the indepth research leading to this conclusion was jointly conducted by the Security Information Service, Military Intelligence, Office for Foreign Relations and Information and National Cyber and Information Security Agency, making it highly credible.
While condemning the act, the government also added that it undermines the credibility of the People’s Republic of China and contradicts its public declarations.
“These activities are contrary to the norms of responsible State behaviour in cyberspace as endorsed by all UN Members. We call on the People’s Republic of China to adhere to these norms and principles, to refrain from such attacks and to take all appropriate measures to address this situation.”
China’s history of cyber attacks
The attempted attack on the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs is just one of several in which the Chinese government has been implicated.
In the U.S., the Chinese have also been accused of hijacking the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen’s computers in a series of attacks targeted at U.S. government facilities.
However, the Chinese government has outrightly denied any involvement in the hack of the U.S. treasury’s sub-stations, although several reports have emerged suggesting that its hackers are targeting different government agencies.
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