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

Published

8 months ago

March 25, 2024

admin

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”.

Politics live: PM issues nuclear warning

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

Coinbase CEO to meet with Trump to discuss personnel appointments — WSJ

Published

5 hours ago

November 18, 2024

admin

Coinbase CEO to meet with Trump to discuss personnel appointments — WSJ

Before US Election Day, Brian Armstrong said Coinbase was “prepared to work” with either a Kamala Harris or Donald Trump administration.

Politics

Row over how many farms will be affected by inheritance tax policy – as PM doubles down ahead of farmers protest

Published

5 hours ago

November 18, 2024

admin

Row over how many farms will be affected by inheritance tax policy - as PM doubles down ahead of farmers protest

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted the “vast majority of farmers” will not be affected by changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) ahead of a protest outside parliament on Tuesday.

It follows Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing a 20% inheritance tax that will apply to farms worth more than £1m from April 2026, where they were previously exempt.

But the prime minister looked to quell fears as he resisted calls to change course.

Speaking from the G20 summit in Brazil, he said: “If you take a typical case of a couple wanting to pass a family farm down to one of their children, which would be a very typical example, with all of the thresholds in place, that’s £3m before any inheritance tax is paid.”

Politics latest: No 10 insists chancellor has been ‘straight’ about her CV

The comments come as thousands of farmers, including celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson, are due to descend on Whitehall on Tuesday to protest the change.

And 1,800 more will take part in a “mass lobby” where members of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) will meet their MPs in parliament to urge them to ask Ms Reeves to reconsider the policy.

Speaking to broadcasters, Sir Keir insisted the government is supportive of farmers, pointing to a £5bn investment announced for them in the budget.

He said: “I’m confident that the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected at all by that aspect of the budget.

“They will be affected by the £5bn that we’re putting into farming. And I’m very happy to work with farmers on that.”

Sir Keir’s spokesman made a similar argument earlier on Monday, saying the government expects 73% of farms to not be affected by the change.

Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs Secretary Steve Reed said only about 500 out of the UK’s 209,000 farms would be affected, according to Treasury calculations.

However, that number has been questioned by several farming groups and the Conservatives.

Government figures ‘misleading’

The NFU said the real number is about two-thirds, with its president Tom Bradshaw calling the government’s figures “misleading” and accusing it of not understanding the sector.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the policy could affect 70,000 farms.

Conservative shadow farming minister Robbie Moore accused the government last week of “regurgitating” figures that represent “past claimants of agricultural property relief, not combined with business property relief” because he said the Treasury does not have that data.

Agricultural property relief (APR) currently provides farmers 100% relief from paying inheritance tax on agricultural land or pasture used for rearing livestock or fish, and can include woodland and buildings, such as farmhouses, if they are necessary for that land to function.

Farmers can also claim business property relief (BPR), providing 50% or 100% relief on assets used by a trading business, which for farmers could include land, buildings, plant or machinery used by the business, farm shops and holiday cottages.

APR and BPR can often apply to the same asset, especially farmed land, but APR should be the priority, however BPR can be claimed in addition if APR does not cover the full value (e.g. if the land has development value above its agricultural value).

Mr Moore said the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Treasury have disagreed on how many farms will be impacted “by as much as 40%” due to the lack of data on farmers using BPR.

Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said last week1,400 farmers in Cumbria, where he is an MP, will be affected and will not be able to afford to pay the tax as many are on less than the minimum wage despite being asset rich.

Politics

Cabinet split over assisted dying as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson latest to reveal she will vote against bill

Published

5 hours ago

November 18, 2024

admin

Cabinet split over assisted dying as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson latest to reveal she will vote against bill

A split is emerging in the cabinet, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson revealing she will join several of her colleagues and vote against the bill to legalise assisted dying.

Ms Phillipson told Sky News she will vote against the proposed legislation at the end of this month, which would give terminally ill people with six months to live the option to end their lives.

She voted against assisted dying in 2015 and said: “I haven’t changed my mind.

“I continue to think about this deeply. But my position hasn’t changed since 2015.”

Politics latest: Starmer on Ukraine as he attends Rio G20

MPs will be given a free vote on the bill, so they will not be told how to vote by their party.

The topic has seen a split in the cabinet – however, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has yet to reveal how he will vote on 29 November.

Ms Phillipson joins some other big names who have publicly said they are voting against the bill

These include Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.

Border security minister Angela Eagle is also voting against the bill.

Senior cabinet members voting in favour of assisted dying include Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Science Secretary Peter Kyle, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens.

The split over the issue is said to be causing friction within government, with Sir Keir rebuking the health secretary for repeatedly saying he is against the bill and for ordering officials to review the costs of implementing any changes in the law.

Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates has been told Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s chief of staff, is concerned about the politics of the bill passing.

He is understood to be worried the issue will dominate the agenda next year and, while he is not taking a view on the bill, he can see it taking over the national conversation and distracting from core government priorities like the economy and borders.

Details of the bill were published last week and include people wanting to end their life having to self-administer the medicine.

It would only be allowed for terminally ill people who have been given six months to live.

Two independent doctors would have to confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge would have to give their approval before it could go ahead.