According to Europa Libera Romania , three Romanian lawmakers have been targeted by a government- backed group of Chinese hackers . The group was collecting data on government officials and politicians in several countries.
See also: Chinese hackers breach networks through ScreenConnect and F5 BIG-IP vulnerabilities
Authorities in the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand recently revealed that Chinese-backed hackers attempted to obtain data on individuals or officials. Among the politicians targeted by the Chinese hackers were three Romanian lawmakers, according to a U.S. Justice Department indictment.
The three Romanian MPs, namely Cătălin Teniță (REPER), Alexandru Muraru (PNL) and former MP Pavel Popescu (PNL), have expressed criticism of the Chinese government.
All three were victims of a spying campaign organized by a hacking group called APT31 against the International Parliamentary Alliance on China, known as IPAC, an international group of many parliamentarians who focus on how democratic countries should work with China. The Romanian lawmakers who fell victim to the Chinese hackers have been critical of China's communist regime and accused it of human rights abuses
See also: Finland: APT31 hackers breached Parliament in 2021
IPAC was founded in 2020, on the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which were violently suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party. Around January 2021, hackers registered ten email accounts, from which they sent over 1,000 emails to more than 400 accounts associated with IPAC. It is unclear how many of the recipients of the emails opened them, but those who did open them out of ignorance transmitted data about their device IP addresses, the location from which they opened the email, and the types of browsers or operating systems they were using.
Opposition MP Alexandru Muraru told reporters that he was not surprised that IPAC members were targeted by hackers backed by the Beijing government.
Chinese hackers targeted not only officials from the IPAC Information Center, but also politicians, institutions, businessmen and companies from the United States of America. The period recorded by the FBI is at least 14 years, from 2010 to the present.
Seven men of Chinese descent are wanted by the FBI in this case. The Bureau has announced a $10 million reward for information leading to their arrest.
See also: US: Volt Typhoon hackers were in a critical infrastructure network for 5 years
Attacks by Chinese hackers, such as the one against Romanian lawmakers, can have serious consequences on many levels. On an economic level, they can cause significant financial losses for businesses and governments, through the theft of copyright, trade secrets and personal data. On a social level, attacks by Chinese hackers can create a sense of insecurity and distrust in digital technology, as people may be concerned about the protection of their personal data. On a political level, these attacks can be used as a tool for geopolitical influence and can provoke international conflicts. They can also affect democratic processes, such as elections, through the distortion of information. Finally, on a technological level, attacks by Chinese hackers can cause significant disruptions to internet services and infrastructure, thus causing serious malfunctions.
Source: romania-insider
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