WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – A hacker group linked to the Chinese government has launched a state-sponsored operation targeting New Zealand's parliament in 2021, the country's security minister announced Tuesday.
New Zealand's claim will be heard the next day. US and UK authorities announce series of criminal charges The sanctions against seven hackers, all believed to be based in China, targeted U.S. government officials, journalists, businesses, pro-democracy activists and British election observers.
“The use of cyber-enabled espionage to disrupt democratic institutions and processes is unacceptable anywhere,” Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) Minister Judith Collins said in a media statement. said.
Mr Collins said the agency had also established a link between state-backed groups linked to China and malicious cyber activity targeting New Zealand parliamentary institutions.
“The GCSB’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) completed a robust technical assessment following the breach of the Congressional Counsel Office and Congressional Services in 2021, and this activity was identified as a State-sponsored operation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) known as APT40. “We determined that it was a group effort,” Collins said.
“Fortunately, in this case, NCSC worked with the affected organizations to contain the activity and eliminate the attackers shortly after gaining access to their networks.”
Mr Collins said New Zealand had no intention of following the US and UK in sanctioning China as the country had no law authorizing such penalties and had no plans to introduce legislation.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed New Zealand's concerns had been conveyed to Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong.
“This type of foreign interference is unacceptable, and we have called on China to refrain from such activities in the future,” Peters said in a statement Tuesday.
“New Zealand will continue to consistently and predictably speak out about this kind of behavior when we see it.”
Peters met with China's Wang Yi last week. He said the two countries share an “important and complex relationship.”
“We are cooperating with China in some areas for mutual benefit,” he said. “At the same time, we have consistently made it clear that we will speak out on issues of concern.”
