France Says it Thwarted Attack on Websites from Russian Actors

French Foreign and European Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP)

Asharq Al Awsat

16:01-13 June 2023 AD ـ 25 Thul-Qi’dah 1444 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

16:01-13 June 2023 AD ـ 25 Thul-Qi’dah 1444 AH

France Says it Thwarted Attack on Websites from Russian Actors

French Foreign and European Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP)

France's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Paris had prevented a hybrid digital attack on her ministry's website likely carried out by Russian state-linked actors, along with attacks on other government websites and French media sites.
According to Reuters, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna also said France believed there was a broader campaign of spreading disinformation in France by Russian protagonists.
"This campaign is notably based upon creating fake internet pages to hack into the identity of national media and government websites, as well as by creating fake accounts on social media networks," Colonna said in a statement.
Moscow has consistently denied that it carries out hacking operations.
Colonna said Russian embassies and Russian cultural institutes were also involved in this campaign, and reaffirmed France's support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
Many countries around the world that have expressed their support for Ukraine have disclosed similar hits on websites.

China Holds Sea and Air Combat Drills at Disputed Scarborough Shoal

Members of the Philippine Coast Guard stand alert as a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocks their way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Reuters)

08:28-13 November 2024 AD ـ 12 Jumada Al-Ula 1446 AH

China Holds Sea and Air Combat Drills at Disputed Scarborough Shoal

Members of the Philippine Coast Guard stand alert as a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocks their way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Reuters)

China held sea and air combat drills Wednesday at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, an area of reefs and rocks the Philippines also claims in the South China Sea.

On Sunday, China published new baselines for the shoal including geographic coordinates. A nation’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone are typically defined as the distance from the baselines.

“This is a patrol and guard activity carried out by the theater troops in accordance with the law," the People's Liberation Army's southern command said in a short statement.

China seized the shoal, which lies west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, in 2012 and has since restricted access to Filipino fishermen there. A 2016 ruling by an international arbitration court found that most Chinese claims in the South China Sea were invalid but Beijing refuses to abide by it.

Tensions between the two countries have been building over their competing claims to Scarborough Shoal and other outcrops in the sea, and clashes have occurred in the disputed waters including the Chinese coast guard firing water cannons at Filipino ships.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed two laws last week reaffirming the extent of his country’s maritime territories and right to resources, including in the South China Sea, in a move that angered China.

China's claims to almost the entire sea overlap with claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and other governments.

France Says it Thwarted Attack on Websites from Russian Actors

France Says it Thwarted Attack on Websites from Russian Actors

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China Holds Sea and Air Combat Drills at Disputed Scarborough Shoal

China Holds Sea and Air Combat Drills at Disputed Scarborough Shoal

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