New Zealand claims Chinese government-sponsored hackers behind Microsoft cyber attack

Earlier this year, New Zealand’s Defense Minister Andrew Little said on Tuesday that New Zealand had independently verified the hacking of Chinese government – sponsored actors into the Microsoft system.

Little rejected Beijing’s denial of involvement and reiterated further allegations against China by several Western countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, through NATO and the European Union.

New Zealand has blamed cyber operators affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Defense for the March attack, which targeted tens of thousands of computers and networks around the world.

“The background to the origin of these cyber attacks is well established by our own agencies and confirmed with other agencies,” Little told broadcaster Radio New Zealand (RNZ).

“We are very confident that the origin of these attacks, especially Microsoft, came from China,” he added.

Beijing has repeatedly denied the allegations and condemned the US-led campaign as “politically motivated slander”.

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According to the RNZ, the intelligence agencies also confirmed that “Chinese-funded actors are responsible for the use of Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities in New Zealand by early 2021”.

The Chinese embassy in New Zealand responded strongly to the allegations, summoning New Zealand officials to a meeting, saying the allegations were “completely baseless and irresponsible”.

In a statement, the embassy called on New Zealand to “abandon the Cold War mentality” and “choose dialogue and cooperation instead of dealing with political issues in the guise of cyber security and misleading others.”

*Written by Islamuddin Sajid.

*Maria Paula Trivino contributed to the writing of this note.

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