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Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters
that alerts issued by the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and
New Zealand were intended to promote their intelligence
alliance, known as the Five Eyes - and that it was Washington
that was guilty of hacking,
"The United States is the empire of hacking," Mao said.
The reaction follows a series of warnings issued by Five Eyes
countries - and major U.S. tech firm Microsoft Corp - about the
activities of a Chinese hacking group known as Volt Typhoon.
Although Chinese spies have long been active online against the
United States and its allies, Volt Typhoon has raised particular
concerns because of its focus on critical infrastructure,
including communications links that tie the United States to the
Pacific, analysts say.
The group's focus on stealthiness is also drawing attention.
Cybersecurity company Secureworks, which said it has responded
to at least three Volt Typhoon hacks, described the group as
working consistently to cover its tracks.
The company also backed Western assessments of the group's
origins, saying that the hacker group, which it nicknamed
"Bronze Silhouette," likely operates on behalf of Beijing.
Secureworks - an arm of Dell Technologies' - said that Chinese
spies were upping their game in response to "likely increased
pressure from (Chinese) leadership to avoid public scrutiny of
its cyberespionage activity."
(Reporting by Raphael Satter, Editing by William Maclean)
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