China claims Australia part of ‘empire of hacking’

Beijing has made a sensational claimed about Australia and its Five Eyes allies, in an attempt to deflect reports of Chinese cyber attacks on critical infrastructure.

File photo.

Beijing lashed out at Australia and its Five Eyes security allies after Chinese Communist Party-backed hackers were identified as responsible for cyber attacks on “critical infrastructure” in the United States.

In a joint Cybersecurity Advisory released by Five Eyes intelligence agencies and Microsoft, state-sponsored cyber espionage group Volt Typhoon was blamed for hacking American critical infrastructure organisations including telecommunications and transportation hubs in the US and its territory of Guam in the Pacific.

The Chinese hacking group ‘Volt Typhoon’ was detected by Microsoft launching attacks on critical infrastructure. Picture: AFP

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning called the report a “collective disinformation campaign” from the “empire of hacking”; Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre, the US National Security Agency, the UK’s Cyber Security Centre, New Zealand’s National Cyber Security Centre, and Canada’s Centre for Cyber Security.

“This has been a collective disinformation campaign launched by the U.S. through the Five Eyes to serve its geopolitical agenda,” Ms Ning claimed.

“It’s widely known that the Five Eyes is the world’s biggest intelligence association and the NSA the world’s biggest hacking group. It is ironic that the Five Eyes jointly released a report filled with disinformation.

Ms Ning added the inclusion of Microsoft in the “extremely unprofessional report”, showed the use of non-governmental channels to “spread the disinformation”.

“Whatever their subterfuge, it will not change the fact that the U.S. is the champion of hacking,” she said.

The outburst came after the US’s National Security Agency said it was working with the security agencies of Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Canada to identify breaches by the hacking group Volt Typhoon, which was identified by Microsoft analysts with “moderate confidence”.

While the group and its activity were identified by Microsft, its analysts are unclear on their full capabilities in using so-called “living off the land” techniques to target networks of critical infrastructure.

Volt Typhoon was said to be backed by the Chinese Communist Party, led by chairman Xi Jinping. Picture: AFP

Volt Typhoon’s primary tactic is to use built-in network administration tools to blend in with Microsoft Windows operating systems and avoid detection, according to the Cybersecurity Advisory.

“Cyber actors find it easier and more effective to use capabilities already built into critical infrastructure environments. A PRC state-sponsored actor is living off the land, using built-in network tools to evade our defences and leaving no trace behind,” said Rob Joyce, NSA Cybersecurity Director.

“That makes it imperative for us to work together to find and remove the actor from our critical networks.”