14 DAY TRIAL // The website for the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has been hacked and used to spread tracking malware to all users visiting it, The Diplomat reports.
While there's no solid evidence at this point to clearly point the finger at Chinese attackers, the hack did take place on the third day of hearings regarding an international dispute between the Philippines and China.
The attack took place this past July and surrounded the highly publicized South China Sea dispute.
In this particular case, the Philippines is claiming an abusive intrusion into its maritime territories by the Chinese army, using man-made islands and forcible takeovers of small reef atolls.
This case is considered of prime importance by the world's media since it may provide a legal way to fight or allow bigger nations to take over territories from smaller countries.
Chinese officials refused to take part in the hearings, rejecting the tribunal's jurisdiction over the matter.
The lack of evidence does not indicate a lack of cause
While the lack of evidence may be enough to dismiss China as the culprit, this is not the first time when "coincidences" like these happen. Only last week, Russian hackers perpetrated a similar attack on the Dutch Safety Board, which had recently released a report that blamed the crash of the MH17 airplane on a Russian missile.
Previously, in 2008, just before the Beijing Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and multiple national Olympic Committees also reported cyber intrusions from Chinese hackers.
The common explanation is that Chinese state officials are trying to create a database of people and parties interested in various topics so that they could anticipate and counteract on their actions and responses.
While the Hague's Permanent Court of Arbitration will not issue a final ruling until the end of the year, it may be wise for their IT department to invest in more advanced cyber-security systems in case the verdict doesn't go China's way.