China responsible for two ‘malicious’ cyber attack campaigns in UK, says Dowden

Published

1 year ago

March 25, 2024

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China “state-affiliated actors” have been blamed by the government for two “malicious” cyber attack campaigns in the UK.

Making a speech in the Commons, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden revealed the two incidents involved an attack on the Electoral Commission – responsible for overseeing elections and political finance – in 2021, and targeted attacks against China-sceptic MPs.

He confirmed the Foreign Office would be summoning the Chinese ambassador “to account for China’s conduct in these incidents”, and that the UK, alongside international partners such as the US, would be issuing sanctions.

Mr Dowden told MPs: “The cyber threat posed by China affiliated actors is real and it is serious, but it is more than equalled by our determination and resolve to resist it.

“That is how we defend ourselves and our precious democracy.”

But he faced condemnation from backbench Tories for not going far enough, with former immigration minister Robert Jenrick calling the actions of the UK government “feeble” and “derisory”, and foreign affairs committee chair Alicia Kearns deeming them “sadly insufficient”.

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According to the National Cyber Security Centre, the incident at the commission, discovered in 2022, saw the Electoral Roll compromised, including the names and addresses of tens of millions of voters.

But “reconnaissance activity” in 2021, targeting the accounts of former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative education minister Tim Loughton, crossbench peer Lord Alton of Liverpool and SNP MP Stewart McDonald was unsuccessful.

The latter of the campaigns was blamed on the APT31 group, also known as Judgement Panda or Zirconium, but a specific entity has not been named for the Electoral Commission attack.

However, the Foreign Office has confirmed it is placing sanctions on a front company, the Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, and two actors involved in the operations of APT31, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin – a move echoed by the US government.

Dowden: Attacks completely unacceptable

Mr Dowden said the two cyber attack campaigns were “completely unacceptable” and demonstrated “a clear and persistent pattern of behaviour that signal signals hostile intent from China”.

He added: “The UK does not accept that China’s relationship with the United Kingdom is set on a predetermined course. But this depends on the choices that China makes.

“That is why the Foreign Office will be summoning the Chinese ambassador to account for China’s conduct in these incidents.

“The UK’s policy towards China is anchored in our core national interests. Where it is consistent with these interests, we will engage with the Chinese government.

“But we will not hesitate to take robust actions wherever the Chinese government threatens the United Kingdom’s interests.”

But in response to the cyber attacks highlighted by the UK government, a Chinese Embassy spokesperson said the accusations were “completely fabricated and malicious slanders”.

They added: “China has always firmly fought all forms of cyber attacks according to law. China does not encourage, support or condone cyber attacks.

“At the same time, we oppose the politicisation of cyber security issues and the baseless denigration of other countries without factual evidence.

“We urge the relevant parties in the UK to stop spreading false information and stop their self-staged, anti-China political farce.”

Those MPs targeted by the attacks – all members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) who probe Beijing’s activities – were briefed by parliament’s director of security on Monday.

‘MPs will not be bullied into silence by Beijing’

Speaking at a press conference afterwards, Sir Iain said the group had been “subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time”, but insisted MPs would not be “bullied into silence by Beijing”.

He called for a “watershed moment” from the government that would see the UK “take a stand for values of human rights and the international rules-based system on which we all depend”.

However, speaking in the Commons after Mr Dowden’s statement, Sir Iain described his words as “like an elephant giving birth to a mouse”, as he called for further sanctions on China – especially over its actions in Hong Kong – and for the country to be defined as a “threat”.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has been briefing the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs on the measures, a number of whom have now publicly called for more robust action to be taken against China as a result of the cyber attacks.

Speaking to broadcasters afterwards, Mr Dowden addressed his critics by saying: “I would say this isn’t the end of the story. We will continue to take the necessary and proportionate steps to protect our democratic institutions.”

A clear reminder the cyber threat is constant

Tom Clarke

Science and technology editor

@t0mclark3

The fact China is attempting to spy on the UK and others online should come as no surprise.

This latest announcement from government is more of reminder that the activity is constant, and increasingly sophisticated.

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has now implicated a Chinese-backed hacking group APT31 of attempting to target a group of MPs.

There’s a clue in the name: Advanced Persistent Threat is cybersecurity speak for groups usually backed by governments.

A long list From APT16 to APT 41 are hacking groups each with their own techniques and target areas suspected of being run by the Chinese state.

It’s suggested APT 31 used “spear phishing” to attempt to spy on members of the Inter Parliamentary Alliance on China. The same as phishing – in which a malicious file, usually typically embedded in an innocent-looking link in a email – spear phishing is targeted at a specific individual or group.

We have less information on the hack of the Electoral Commission back in 2021, which has now also been attributed to China. In this instance the hackers are believed to have had persistent access to the Electoral Commission’s systems for months.

In response, the NCSC has updated guidance for political organisations and other institutions who could be at threat from such attacks, including updated guidance on sophisticated threat called “living off the land”.

This is a type of “fileless” attack that exploits native code used to manage server networks operated by large providers like Microsoft. Via an intrusion like a phishing attack, malicious code, disguised to look normal, is inserted straight into the target system’s operating instructions bypassing virus scanning software.

The danger of this type of attack is that it’s hard for online security teams to spot that an intrusion has happened, or to monitor the activity of hackers. Without very vigilant cybersecurity, hacks like this have been found to have persisted for long periods of time.

Last year Microsoft announced a “living off the land” attack by Chinese-backed hacker group Volt Typhoon had been used to infiltrate US utilities and critical infrastructure companies from 2021 onwards.

It is the latest incident to highlight growing pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from within his own party to take a tougher stance on China, having so far refused to brand the country a threat.

Speaking ahead of Mr Dowden’s statement, the prime minister said: “We’ve been very clear that the situation now is that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad, authoritarian at home and it represents an epoch-defining challenge, and also the greatest state-based threat to our economic security.

“So, it’s right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing.”

A Downing Street source also told Sky News Mr Sunak had “always had a robust position on China”, but it would “not be a sensible thing to do” to “cut all links” with Beijing, and instead the government took a “eyes wide open approach” to its activities.

Politics

5 countries where crypto is (surprisingly) tax-free in 2025

Published

3 hours ago

July 7, 2025

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5 countries where crypto is (surprisingly) tax-free in 2025

Looking to live tax-free with crypto in 2025? These five countries, including the Cayman Islands, UAE and Germany, still offer legal, zero-tax treatment for cryptocurrencies.

Politics

Children with special needs will ‘always’ have ‘legal right’ to support, education secretary says

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3 hours ago

July 7, 2025

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Children with special needs will 'always' have 'legal right' to support, education secretary says

The education secretary has said children with special needs will “always” have a legal right to additional support as she sought to quell a looming row over potential cuts.

The government is facing a potential repeat of the debacle over welfare reform due to suggestions it could scrap tailored plans for children and young people with special needs in the classroom.

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Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Bridget Phillipson failed to rule out abolishing education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – legally-binding plans to ensure children and young people receive bespoke support in either mainstream or specialist schools.

Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said parents’ anxiety was “through the roof” following reports over the weekend that EHCPs could be scrapped.

She said parents “need and deserve answers” and asked: “Can she confirm that no parent or child will have their right to support reduced, replaced or removed as a result of her planned changes?”

Ms Phillipson said SEND provision was a “serious and complex area” and that the government’s plans would be set out in a white paper that would be published later in the year.

“I would say to all parents of children with SEND, there is no responsibility I take more seriously than our responsibility to some of the most vulnerable children in our country,” she said.

“We will ensure, as a government, that children get better access to more support, strengthened support, with a much sharper focus on early intervention.”

ECHPs are drawn up by local councils and are available to children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is provided by the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) budget.

They identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.

In total, there were 638,745 EHCPs in place in January 2025 – up 10.8% on the same point last year.

‘Rebel ready’

One Labour MP said they were concerned the government risked making the “same mistakes” over ECHPs as it did with the row over welfare, when it was eventually forced into a humiliating climbdown in the face of opposition by Labour MPs.

“The political risk is much higher even than with welfare, and I’m worried it’s being driven by a need to save money which it shouldn’t be,” they told Sky News.

“Some colleagues are rebel ready.”

The MP said the government should be “charting a transition from where we are now to where we need to be”, adding: “That may well be a future without ECHPs, because there is mainstream capacity – but that cannot be a removal of current provision.”

Later in the debate, Ms Phillipson said children with special educational needs and disabilities would “always” have a “legal right” to additional support as she accused a Conservative MP of attempting to “scare” parents.

“The guiding principle of any reform to the SEND system that we will set out will be about better support for children, strengthened support for children and improved support for children, both inside and outside of special schools,” she said.

“Improved inclusivity in mainstream schools, more specialist provision in mainstream schools, and absolutely drawing on the expertise of the specialist sector in creating the places where we need them, there will always be a legal right … to the additional support… that children with SEND need.”

Her words were echoed by schools minister Catherine McKinnell, who also did not rule out changing ECHPs.

She told the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge that the government was “focused on reforming the whole system”.

“Children and families have been left in a system where they’ve had to fight for their child’s education, and that has to change,” she said.

She added that EHCPs have not necessarily “fixed the situation” for some children – but for others it’s “really important”.

Politics

Government to ban ‘appalling’ non-disclosure agreements that silence victims of abuse at work

Published

3 hours ago

July 7, 2025

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Government to ban 'appalling' non-disclosure agreements that silence victims of abuse at work

Victims will no longer have to “suffer in silence”, the government has said, as it pledges to ban non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) designed to silence staff who’ve suffered harassment or discrimination.

Accusers of Harvey Weinstein, the former film producer and convicted sex offender, are among many in recent years who had to breach such agreements in order to speak out.

Labour has suggested an extra section in the Employment Rights Bill that would void NDAs that are intended to stop employees going public about harassment or discrimination.

The government said this would allow victims to come forward about their situation rather than remain “stuck in unwanted situations, through fear or desperation”.

Zelda Perkins, Weinstein’s former assistant and founder of Can’t Buy My Silence UK, said the changes would mark a “huge milestone” in combatting the “abuse of power”.

She added: “This victory belongs to the people who broke their NDAs, who risked everything to speak the truth when they were told they couldn’t. Without their courage, none of this would be happening.”

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said the government had “heard the calls from victims of harassment and discrimination” and was taking action to prevent people from having to “suffer in silence”.

An NDA is a broad term that describes any agreement that restricts what a signatory can say about something and was originally intended to protect commercially sensitive information.

Currently, a business can take an employee to court and seek compensation if they think a NDA has been broken – even if that person is a victim or witness of harassment or discrimination.

“Many high profile cases” have revealed NDAs are being manipulated to prevent people “speaking out about horrific experiences in the workplace”, the government said.

Announcing the amendments, employment minister Justin Madders said: “The misuse of NDAs to silence victims of harassment or discrimination is an appalling practice that this government has been determined to end.”

The bill is currently in the House of Lords, where it will be debated on 14 July, before going on to be discussed by MPs as well.