14 DAY TRIAL // The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of China’s Communist Party, has published a report citing Beijing government officials who denied having any involvement in the recent cyberattacks launched against major US media organizations.
According to AFP, the article highlights the fact that IP addresses don’t represent concrete evidence when it comes to determining the origin of an attack.
Furthermore, Chinese officials claim that most of the cyberattacks launched against the country’s computer systems back in December originated from US IP addresses. However, they underscore that China hasn’t rushed to conclude that the US is behind the attacks.
China believes that the US is looking for reasons to impose economic sanctions.
After The New York Times reported the attacks, China’s Ministry of National Defense said that the country’s legislation strictly prohibited such action. In addition, the ministry argued that it was unprofessional to make such accusations without solid proof.
Besides The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post also reported being targeted by hackers presumably based in China.
In each of the incidents, the hackers used custom malware to bypass security solutions and gained access to large quantities of sensitive information.
However, the investigations revealed that the attackers were only after information related to China, particularly the details of individuals who leaked information to the newspapers.
In response to these latest attacks, US officials have revealed that the government is waiting for the National Intelligence Estimate, which will show the exact extent of the damage caused by Chinese hackers to the economy.
Based on the results, the Obama administration might consider taking stronger actions against China, including import restrictions.