Three Romanian deputies were targeted by a group of hackers, supported by the Chinese government, which acted at a global level. Authorities in Washington, London and Wellington have accused, in the past two days, that Chinese-backed hackers have targeted their populations or governments to obtain information about elections, politicians or the business environment, reports Free Europe.
APT31 targeted the Interparliamentary Alliance for China, which includes Romanian MPs Photo: Archive
According to the indictment drawn up by the US Department of Justice, among the politicians targeted in this global cyber espionage campaign are deputies Cătălin Teniță (REPER), Alexandru Muraru (PNL) and former deputy Pavel Popescu (PNL). Following the report, published on Monday (March 25) evening, seven Chinese hackers are wanted internationally by the FBI and have been sent to court, according to Free Europe.
According to the cited source, it is an espionage campaign by a hacker group called APT31 against the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance for China, an international group that includes several parliamentarians and is concerned with how democratic countries should refers to China. This group has come under Beijing's sights for critical speeches against the Chinese Communist regime and accusations of human rights violations against it.
“In or around 2021“, the hackers from the group targeted by American justice – named APT31 – targeted the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance for China (IPAC). The group was founded in 2020, on the anniversary of the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square, brutally suppressed by the Chinese regime. Around or in January 2021, the hackers registered ten email accounts, from which they sent more than 1,000 emails to more than 400 accounts of people associated with IPAC.
The liberal MP Alexandru Muraru stated for the quoted source that he does not remember receiving or opening such an email, but that he is not surprised that IPAC members were the targets of hackers supported by the Beijing government.
“In our meetings, which take place several times a year, in various formats, we have been repeatedly warned about what Chinese state officials are trying to do. Starting with sending messages, e-mails, under fake recipients, which apparently resemble IPAC, which in fact represents an imminent, direct and constant targeting of us. I cannot accept that a totalitarian state, which suppresses any individual freedom and human rights, comes to Romanian institutions and intimidates Romanian state officials. What would happen if the Russian Federation, through its embassy in Bucharest, allowed itself to do such a thing? There would be a huge scandal.” said Alexandru Muraru.
The actions of hackers supported by the Chinese regime have not only targeted IPAC officials, but also US politicians, institutions, businessmen or companies. The period documented by the FBI is from 2010 to the present.
According to the US Department of Justice and the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) “millions of online accounts” of some Americans have been compromised following cyber attacks. Seven men of Chinese descent are wanted by the FBI in the case, which has also put up a $10 million reward for information leading to their capture.
