Chinese Hackers

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New Zealand Accuses Chinese State Hackers of Attacking Parliament Systems

New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) revealed on Monday that Chinese state-sponsored hackers attacked two computer systems used by the New Zealand Parliament in 2021.

GCSB said the hackers managed to access some data on the systems, but nothing of a “strategic or sensitive” nature.

The GCSB is New Zealand’s leading cybersecurity and signals intelligence organization. The agency revealed previously classified details of the 2021 Chinese cyberattack after sister agencies in the United States and United Kingdom disclosed details of similar attacks they have endured.
“This is the first time we have attributed state-sponsored malicious cyber activity to the People’s Republic of China, for intrusion into New Zealand government systems,” GCSB Director Andrew Clark said on Monday.

Clark explained that his agency detected malicious activity in two key computer networks used by Parliament in August 2021. GCSB linked the intrusion to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) and one of its many hacker groups, code-named APT40, with a high degree of confidence.

“This link has been reinforced by analysis from international partners of similar events in their own jurisdictions,” Clark said.
APT40 is classified as a Chinese state-linked hacker threat by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The group operates under various colorful aliases, including Bronze Mohawk, GreenCrash, and Kryptonite Panda.

APT40 has been active since at least 2009, targeting government, corporate, and academic computer systems in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and the South China Sea region. The group has a predilection for attacking industries that might compete with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted four members of APT40 for cyber espionage in July 2021.

The 2021 New Zealand intrusion was described in detail in a statement released by GCSB minister Judith Collins, who condemned China for targeting New Zealand’s Parliament and the UK Electoral Commission with “malicious cyber activity.”

The government of New Zealand summoned Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong to lodge a complaint and ask China to desist from such cyber-espionage in the future. However, New Zealand stopped short of leveling punitive sanctions against Beijing.

“Foreign interference of this nature is unacceptable, and we have urged China to refrain from such activity in future,” said Foreign Minister Winston Peters.