The British government on Monday accused China of cyberattacks that compromised the voting records of tens of millions of people, a sharp rebuke that underlined the hardening of Britain’s stance toward China since its leaders heralded a “golden era” in British-Chinese relations nearly a decade ago.
The deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden announced sanctions against two individuals and one company linked to a state-affiliated group implicated in the attacks, which he said targeted both an elections watchdog and lawmakers.
The Foreign Office summoned China’s ambassador to Britain for a formal diplomatic dressing down.
“This is the latest in a clear pattern of hostile activity originating in China,” Mr. Dowden said in Parliament. “Part of our defense is calling out this behavior.”
The government disclosed the attack on the Electoral Commission, which oversees elections in the United Kingdom, last year but did not identify those behind it. It is believed to have begun in 2021 and lasted several months, with the personal details of 40 million voters being hacked.
The Electoral Commission said that the names and addresses of anyone registered to vote in Britain and Northern Ireland between 2014 and 2022 had been accessed, as well as those of overseas voters.
The commission previously said that the data contained in the electoral registers was limited and noted that much of it was already in the public domain.
However, it added that it was possible the data could be combined with other publicly available information, “such as that which individuals choose to share themselves, to infer patterns of behavior or to identify and profile individuals.”
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This is beyond outrageous. Same as the breach of the Agreement on Hong Kong which provided that Hong Kong was to have 50 years of autonomy from 1997. And yet. No respect for international law, or human rights. And effectively the sponsor of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The Chinese people deserve much better. Maybe that’s why millions emigrate annually.
A simple, common sense solution would be to revoke all student visas of PRC nationals, and prohibit them from owning any property in the UK. Ditto in the U.S. Never mind the recent article in this very paper how undergraduates of Chinese universities studying at U.S. graduate schools are instrumental to the U.S. superiority in AI. That was brought to you by the U.S. educational-industrial complex.
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
How does the idea of China accessing millions of people's personal information affect your trust in international relations and global cybersecurity?
@9L5Z5BC2yrs2Y
As long as they don't show up to my house I'm fine.
The UK, and the US for that matter, needs to take a chapter out of their historical playbook of using privateers to go after the commerce of a foreign enemy . . . this time with China.
It would merely be a matter of not investigating or prosecuting any person or entity enraged in cyber crimes against Chinese owned entities outside local jurisdiction.
@MindF3deralistNo Labels2yrs2Y
As a Brit I am heartened by the importance and value China allegedly ascribes to the UK electorate. Although I can't imagine why they would bother.
Let's face it. Western nations may be the wealthiest, but they are now fully mired in vicious infighting and they neither have the infrastructure nor the will to protect themselves against cyber attacks. This will only get worse from here.
Xi and Putin are extremely ambitious tyrants who will stop at nothing to gain an upper hand in the world geopolitics.
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
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