Les Républicains (LR) politician François Xavier-Bellamy says he is the victim of a Chinese cyberattack. He filed a complaint earlier this week.
The issue of attacks in cyberspace by foreign powers is a hot topic currently. Russia is thus at the heart of attention in Western capitals, with, in particular, the recall of the German ambassador to Russia following attacks attributed to Moscow. But China is also arousing the fears of the authorities, due to a certain number of offensives, including one which would have affected the head of the LR list for Europeans, François-Xavier Bellamy.
A discovery of the United States
François-Xavier Bellamy has just filed a complaint, we learn AFP. The latter was in fact informed by the United States Department of Justice that his mailbox at the European Parliament would have been hacked in 2021 by a group of cyberactivists linked to China.
This attack was only discovered last March, after Washington’s indictment of seven Chinese, at the origin of a ” prolific global hacking operation. » Among their targets, the members of the interparliamentary alliance on China (IPAC), a European group created in 2020 bringing together several major themes specific to this country, such as the question of the Uighurs or Covid-19, and to which François-Xavier Bellamy belongs.
APT 31 maneuvering
The group of hackers at work here is known as APT 31, a circle believed to be linked to the Chinese government, and which is already suspected of having carried out a large cyberespionage campaign in 2021. For the moment, “ it is not known if the hacking attempt was completed » explained the MEP.
The prosecution did not wish to comment at this stage of the investigation, while government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot indicated that the State was taking the problem seriously. “ APT31’s operating mode is subject to particular monitoring » she indicated. Note that this complaint comes at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting France for several days.
Source : The Parisian
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