May 28 (UPI) — The Czech Republic accused China on Wednesday of being responsible for a “malicious cyber campaign” that targeted an unclassified network of the foreign ministry.
Little information about the cyberattack was made public, the Czech government said it began in 2022, affected an institution designated as Czech critical infrastructure and that it was perpetrated by well-known China-backed hackers APT31.
“The Government of the Czech Republic strongly condemns this malicious cyber campaign against its critical infrastructure,” the Czech foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.
“Such behavior undermines the credibility of the People’s Republic of China and contradicts its public declarations.”
APT31, which stands for Advanced Persistent Threat Group 31, is a collection of China state-sponsored intelligence officers, contract hackers and support staff that conduct cyberattacks on behalf of the Chinese government.
Seven Chinese nationals were charged in the United States in late March for their involvement in APT31, which federal prosecutors said has targeted U.S. and foreign critics of the Chinese government, business, and political officials over the last 14 years.
The Czech government said Wednesday it tied APT31 to the cyberattack through an “extensive investigation,” which “led to a high degree of certainty about the responsible actor.”
“The Government of the Czech Republic has identified the People’s Republic of China as being responsible,” it said.
NATO and the European Union — both of which Czech is a member of — were quick to condemn China following Prague’s revelation.
“We stand in solidarity with the Czech Republic following the malicious cyber campaign against its Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the security alliance said in a statement.
NATO did not blame China but acknowledged the Czechs’ accusation of Beijing for the attack and said that it has observed “with increasing concern the growing pattern of malicious cyber activities stemming from the People’s Republic of China.”
Similarly, the EU did not directly point the finger at China for the attack on the Czech Republic, but said there have been cyberattacks linked to Beijing targeting EU and its member stats.
“In 2021, we urged Chinese authorities to take action against malicious cyber activities undertaken from their territories. Since then, several Member States have attributed similar activities at their national level,” the EU’s high representative, Kaja Kallas, said in a statement.
“We have repeatedly raised our concerns during bilateral engagements and we will continue to do so in the future.”
