Earlier this week, Ukraine accused China of having launched a cyber-attack against its Ministry of Defense in the days before the Russian invasion. According to investigations in recent days, the objective of the Asian regime would have been to to obtain secret information on Ukrainian defense systems and about its nuclear industry. For the time being, it is ruled out that the object of the attack was the sabotage of Ukrainian infrastructures.
An intelligence report states that Chinese cyber-attacks against Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Russia were recorded at the end of February
What is still not entirely clear is whether China acted at Moscow’s requestand knowing that Putin was planning to start a war, and whether it passed the information obtained to the Kremlin to facilitate its maneuvers. However, China continues to deny having launched any kind of attack against the Ukrainian state.
Intelligence analyses published in English by The Times indicate that the situation may be rather more complex. According to these documents, at the end of February the following took place several Chinese cyberattacks against governments and military infrastructure, but not only Ukrainian. They were also reportedly directed against Belarus, Poland and Russia.
Another aspect that has attracted the attention of researchers is the amateurish and very inconspicuous nature of the attacks. As if the hackers wanted to be discovered and put on record that they are attacking from China. The usual scenario in this type of cyber-attack would have been for the hackers to resort to a network of servers and systems spread around the world to hide their origin.
As a result, there is speculation that it may have been a a false flag attack. That is, a covert attack by governments and organizations executed in such a way as to make it appear that another entity, in this case the Chinese government, is responsible.
The truth is that, since the war began, more cyber attacks are being recorded than ever before. According to information provided by Data101, the number of fraudulent sites has skyrocketed worldwide. Ransomware attacks have grown by 253% so far this year compared to those recorded in the first quarter of 2021.
