14 DAY TRIAL // The minister in charge of the New Zealand government's Office of Communications Security, Andrew Little, openly accused China of funding malicious cyber activities via a gang called APT40, according to Teiss.
In a statement posted on the New Zealand government's official website, Little said the government clearly linked the Chinese Minister of State Security (MSS) to a hacking group called APT40 or Hafnium. The latter is known to be behind the recent cyberattack that targeted vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Exchange global system.
Little added that a solid technical attribution process established the links between APT40 and MSS and left little doubt as to who was behind the malicious act. He further noted that New Zealand is uniting with other countries forcefully in condemning this destructive conduct carried out both in New Zealand and worldwide by the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS).
New Zealand joins the international criticism of China's state-sponsored players' abuse of the Microsoft Exchange platform, as well as the broad, careless spreading of vulnerabilities. Little has also raised awareness of halting this hostile cyber activity that undermines security and global stability and has asked China to take appropriate measures to address this conduct from its territory.
Little urged China to take the necessary steps to address Chinese cybercriminal behavior
In his remarks, Little stated that about 30% of serious harmful cyber activities in New Zealand can be linked to many state-sponsored actors. “This reinforces the importance of organisations and individuals having strong cyber security measures in place."
“The GCSB’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has provided direct support to New Zealand organisations that have been affected by this malicious cyber activity. For both national security and commercial in confidence reasons, these organisations are not identified publicly,”
Little's accusation was quickly and angrily received by the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, calling it completely unfounded and irresponsible. Moreover, they are advising the New Zealand government to take a professional and responsive approach to cyber incidents, rather than addressing political issues in the name of cyber security and dragging others through the mud.