China protests U.S. Treasury’s sanctions for hacking incidents

China criticized the decision of the US Treasury Department sanction Beijing cybersecurity company for its alleged role in numerous hacking incidents are targeting critical U.S. infrastructure, and China’s cybersecurity agency on Monday complained of attacks on Chinese networks.

Asked about the sanctions against Beijing-based Integrity Technology Group, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the country had taken tough measures to combat cyber attacks and that Washington was using the issue to “smear and smear China.”

“For some time, the US side has been playing out so-called Chinese cyber attacks and even initiating illegal unilateral sanctions against China,” Guo said. “China firmly opposes this and will take necessary measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests.”

The group Integrity Technology said Washington’s move “has no basis in fact.”
“The company resolutely opposes the US Treasury Department’s unfounded accusations and illegal unilateral sanctions against the company,” the company, also known as Yongxin Zhicheng Technology Group, said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday.

China’s National Cyber ​​Security Information Center said it detected attacks from various malicious websites and foreign IP addresses, including from California and Florida. Attacks using Trojan horses, botnets, phishing, intellectual property theft and privacy violations have also been reported from the Netherlands, Singapore, Mexico, Turkey and Vietnam.

“They pose a serious threat to China’s domestic network units and Internet users, and some of the activities are suspected of criminal offenses,” the center said in a statement on its WeChat social media site.

On Friday, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Integrity Technology that block access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prevent targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans. It cited multiple alleged hacking attacks against American victims, including incidents related to the “Flax Typhoon,” a Chinese state-sponsored campaign targeting critical U.S. infrastructure.

The sanctions do not appear to be related to an incident in which the Treasury Department said Chinese hackers gained remote access to several of its workstations and unclassified documents, a serious cybersecurity breach.
The Treasury Department said it became aware of the issue on Dec. 8 when third-party software services provider BeyondTrust reported that hackers had stolen a key “used by the provider to secure a cloud service used to provide technical support remotely.” » employees.

U.S. officials are grappling with the fallout from a massive Chinese cyberespionage attack known as the Salt Typhoon, which they say gave officials in Beijing access to the private messages and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans.

Late last month, officials said at least eight telecommunications companies, as well as dozens of countries, were affected by the Salt Typhoon.

Integrity Technology said the sanctions would not have a negative impact on its business because it does not operate in the United States or have any assets there. He added that he complies with all laws and regulations and that he has “always been committed to the corporate vision and mission of making the world feel safe.”

— Elaine Kurtenbach, AP Business Writer