Diplomatic tension has escalated between China and the United States over cybersecurity issues, following the U.S. Treasury’s decision to impose sanctions on Beijing-based Integrity Technology Group.
The U.S. claims the company was involved in multiple hacking incidents targeting critical American infrastructure, including activities linked to the Flax Typhoon campaign.
In response, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun strongly criticized the decision, accusing the U.S. of defaming China and promising to take measures to protect Chinese interests. Integrity Technology Group denied the allegations, stating the sanctions had “no factual basis” and claiming they would not impact their operations since they have no U.S. assets or business presence.
The situation became more complex when China’s National Cyber Security Information Center reported discovering attacks on Chinese networks from various international sources, including IP addresses in California, Florida, and several other countries. These attacks allegedly involved various methods such as Trojan programs, botnets, and phishing.
This cybersecurity dispute occurs amid broader concerns about Chinese cyber activities. The U.S. is currently dealing with the aftermath of a major Chinese cyberespionage campaign called Salt Typhoon, which reportedly affected at least eight telecommunications companies and dozens of nations, potentially compromising private communications of numerous Americans.
Additionally, the U.S. Treasury Department recently discovered a separate breach of its own systems, where Chinese hackers accessed unclassified documents through a third-party software provider, BeyondTrust.
Read more: China criticizes U.S. sanctions for its alleged role in hacking, complains of foreign hacker attacks
This article is written with the assistance of generative artificial intelligence based solely on Washington Times original reporting and wire services. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Ann Wog, Managing Editor for Digital, at awog@washingtontimes.com
The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.