Australia, NZ condemn UK cyber attacks attributed to China

Australia and New Zealand expressed “serious concerns” Tuesday about cyber attacks against democratic institutions in the United Kingdom, for which London has blamed China, and which have also affected Wellington.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong in a statement condemned the “malicious cyber activities by China state-backed actors” and vowed to call out States that contravene international standards. “The Australian Government joins the United Kingdom and other international partners in expressing serious concerns about malicious cyber activities by China state-backed actors targeting UK democratic institutions and parliamentarians,” she said. “The persistent targeting of democratic institutions and processes has implications for democratic and open societies like Australia. This behavior is unacceptable and must stop,” warned Wong, in a statement with her Home Affairs and Cyber Security counterpart, Clare O’Neil, in which they assured that Australia’s electoral systems have not been compromised.

The ministers promised that Australia will continue to cooperate with its international partners to promote international law and the framework on responsible state behavior in cyberspace and will “call out states if they act contrary to these international obligations and expectations.” Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Wellington’s concerns about “malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese government” against democratic institutions in both the UK and in New Zealand on Tuesday “have been conveyed directly to the Chinese government.”

“Foreign interference of this nature is unacceptable, and we have urged China to refrain from such activity in future. New Zealand will continue to speak out – consistently and predictably – where we see concerning behaviors like this,” Peters said. On Monday, the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden announced that Chinese state-affiliated organizations and individuals were responsible for two malicious cyber campaigns targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians. In the first, UK Electoral Commission systems “were highly likely compromised by a Chinese state-affiliated entity between 2021 and 2022,” and in the second, “it is almost certain that the China state-affiliated Advanced Persistent Threat Group 31 (APT31) conducted reconnaissance activity against UK parliamentarians during a separate campaign in 2021,” he said in a statement.

No parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised. The government summoned the Chinese ambassador to the UK and sanctioned a front company and two APT31 members. “We will continue to call out this activity, holding the Chinese government accountable for its actions,” Dowden said. EFE wat-grc-tw