14 DAY TRIAL // A new NATO-led coalition is gathering members from around the world to address the emerging threat of state-sponsored Chinese hacking, according to CNBC. The new cybersecurity alliance could pave the way for future attempts to combat these types of problems.
Information and cooperation on network defense and security is an integral part of national security efforts, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke anonymously to discuss the initiative more freely. Supporting the efforts, CISA, NSA, and FBI released a new advisory identifying 50 Chinese state-sponsored hacking strategies, techniques, and processes.
The brazen attack on the Microsoft Exchange server was first uncovered in March with data indicating that tens of thousands of American companies and hundreds of thousands of organizations around the world have been affected. The alliance announced plans to accuse China's Ministry of State Security of orchestrating a major email hack on Microsoft Exchange servers earlier this year in a public coordinated effort on Monday.
For the time being, the cybersecurity alliance will not retaliate
According to the intelligence agency, the attack was perpetrated by cybercriminals working for the Ministry of State Security who are also involved in ransomware, crypto jacking, and cyber-based extortion. More precisely, Hafnium, a lesser-known Chinese spy agency, was identified as responsible for the attack.
Even so, the U.S. administration has refused to specifically point fingers at China for the attack. Since investigators needed time to gather the evidence that the Hafnium hackers were indeed working for the Chinese government, the delay in naming China was partly due to this.
The person added that cooperation with United States allies is critical when the US publicly starts pointing fingers. With Biden's efforts this summer, the NATO and EU partners agreed to take a more aggressive stance against China. At the moment, the alliance's priority is cooperative security and threat alerts, but it is not planning to retaliate to attacks.
However, let's not forget that Beijing's global economic strength means it is extraordinarily difficult for any group of countries to come to any sort of agreement on tangible measures to be taken toward China.