Western intelligence agencies and Microsoft accused on Wednesday China of sponsoring cyber hackers to spy on critical US infrastructure and to “disrupt critical communications” between the US and the Asia Pacific region in the event of a future US-China crisis.
Officials in President Joe Biden's administration said the hacking is part of a Chinese intelligence-gathering effort that stretches across cyberspace and outer space.
"The United States and international cybersecurity authorities are issuing this joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) to highlight a recently discovered cluster of activity of interest associated with a People's Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber actor, also known as Volt Typhoon," said a statement released by US, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and UK authorities.
Microsoft said the attack was carried out by Volt Typhoon, which it said was a state-sponsored actor based in China aimed at not only critical infrastructure such as communications, electric and gas utilities, but also maritime operations and transportation.
Microsoft added that Volt Typhoon also targeted infrastructure facilities around the US, including in Guam, where the US maintains an air force base and naval port.
“Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence that this Volt Typhoon campaign is pursuing development of capabilities that could disrupt critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia region during future crises,” it said.
On Thursday, China denied carrying out state-sponsored cyber attacks.
“Apparently, this has been a collective disinformation campaign launched by the US through the Five Eyes (intelligence network) to serve its geopolitical agenda,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said.
