Chinese hackers believed to be backed by the government have gained access to US government and military accounts, according to a new report.
These attacks are “unusually aggressive and sophisticated” and have allowed hackers to gain access to at least two major internet service providers with a combined reach of millions of customers. The Washington Post information.
The revelation comes as the United States and China take steps to repair their damaged relationship, with Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, traveling to the northern outskirts of Beijing for a two-day meeting with Wang Yi, a top foreign policy official under Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
“President Biden has been very clear in his discussions with President Xi that he is committed to managing this important relationship responsibly,” Sullivan told Wang before the talks began.
Meanwhile, at home, Chinese-backed hackers are known to have been spying on Americans through their Internet service providers.
These attacks are “unusually aggressive and sophisticated” and have allowed hackers to gain access to at least two major internet service providers with a combined reach of millions of customers.
According to the publication, other targets are believed to include government and military personnel working undercover.
Brandon Wales, former executive director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), told the publication that attacks “have increased dramatically compared to what they used to be. It’s an order of magnitude worse.”
The Chinese embassy in Washington strongly rejected the report.
Embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu suggested instead that departments are amplifying suggestions of perceived risk to secure more funding.
He said: “There are signs that, in order to receive more congressional budgets and government contracts, the US intelligence community and cybersecurity companies have been secretly collaborating to gather false evidence and spread disinformation about the Chinese government’s so-called support for cyberattacks against the United States.”
The revelation comes as the United States and China take steps to repair their damaged relationship, with Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, traveling to the northern outskirts of Beijing for a two-day meeting with Wang Yi, a top foreign policy official under Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The goal of Sullivan’s visit, which runs through Thursday, is limited: trying to maintain communication in a relationship that has been broken for most of the year in 2022-23.
No major announcements are expected, though Sullivan’s meetings could lay the groundwork for a possible final summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping before Biden steps down in January.
Wang, Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist PartyHe noted that the relationship between China and the United States has gone through twists and turns in recent years.
“The key,” he said, “is to maintain the general direction of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation.”
The Biden administration has taken a hard line toward China, viewing it as a strategic competitor, restricting its companies’ access to advanced technology and confronting the rising power as it seeks to exert influence over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Relations, which were already frosty, froze completely after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a senior U.S. lawmaker, Visited Taiwan in August 2022Hopes of restoring ties were dashed the following February when An alleged Chinese spy balloon flew over the United States before being shot down by the US military.
The goal of Sullivan’s visit, which runs through Thursday, is limited: trying to maintain communication in a relationship that has been broken for most of the year in 2022-23.