When it comes to cyberspace, China is a notorious power. China has a sophisticated machinery of launching malicious cyberattacks on enemy nations like India, Taiwan, and ASEAN member states. On China’s target are the United States and Russia as well. So, Communist China is a global menace. In fact, the constant hacking by CCP-backed entities has led to the United States and Russia establishing cybersecurity contacts among themselves, in order for cooperation in this realm to be bolstered between the two powers. China has been having a wonderful time hacking into systems around the world. But the dynamics are fast changing.
China is fast turning into a victim. So far, the Communist nation was the undisputed aggressor when it came to cyberattacks. But two of its most pronounced foes, India and Taiwan are retaliating. And China is shivering with fear, so much so that the CCP has even admitted that the constant hacking from India and Taiwan has become a threat for China.
How Taiwan has Upped the Ante on China:
The Chinese Communist Party speaks through its mouthpiece, Global Times. And it has spoken. According to Global Times, an advanced persistent threat (APT) organization called GreenSpot, from the island nation of Taiwan, has been launching cyberattacks on the Chinese mainland, mainly targeting Beijing and East China’s Fujian Province.
According to China’s security company – ThreatBook, the Taiwanese organisation mainly targets government agencies, and aerospace and military-related scientific research institutes to steal high-value data and classified information. GreenSpot has also been launching large-scale targeted phishing attacks on several key universities in China. It not only steals intelligence but also releases a Trojan Horse on Chinese systems during its hacking operations. From the first half of 2021, GreenSpot also forged domain names to attack in-service personnel and associated units/individuals.
How India is Giving China a Major Headache:
Taiwan is not alone in giving China sleepless nights. Standing right beside it is India, which is giving hell to the CCP as well. According to a report published by Global Times late last month, an active hacker team whose members are based in Delhi has been launching cyberattacks against government agencies and defence departments in China and Pakistan. This group of Indian hackers, purportedly supported by the Indian establishment was first detected by China in 2017. Since then, the group’s attacks have become much more sophisticated and advanced. Today, China is telling the world that this group can become the biggest cyberattack team in South Asia.
According to the CEO of Antiy Labs, one of China’s most important cybersecurity companies, “In 2021, the group began targeted attacks on Chinese institutions for intelligence theft.” The attacks detected by Antiy Labs include setting up phishing websites, attacking mobile phones with malicious Android applications, and Trojans written in languages such as Python to steal various documents, browser cache passwords and other host system environment information from computers.
China’s Cyber Misadventures:
China is facing massive retaliation in cyberspace. However, it has nobody but itself to blame. According to U.S.-based cybersecurity firm Insikt, Chinese state-sponsored hackers have been broadly targeting government and private-sector organisations across Southeast Asia, including those closely involved with Beijing on infrastructure development projects.
Specific targets include the Thai prime minister’s office and the Thai army, the Indonesian and Philippine navies, Vietnam’s national assembly and the central office of its Communist Party, and Malaysia’s Ministry of Defence.
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Meanwhile, Taiwan has revealed that it has been facing around five million cyber-attacks and probes each day. Importantly, the only country which will target Taiwan is China. India, on the other hand, has seen a 261 percent annual increase in Chinese-backed cyberattacks, as of August 2021. Chinese hackers have also been targeting Russian federal authorities, in attempts to steal confidential information from the Russian systems. The United States too is naturally a top target for China’s cyberspace war teams.
So, China has come to face massive cyber retaliation. Now that it is crumbling under the weight of its self-inflicted troubles, the Communist nation is crying foul. But things are only about to get worse for China here on.
