The global nature of Chinese cyber espionage and hacking campaigns defies the PRC’s narrative that everything in the world is about China vs the U.S.
Beijing’s appetite for intellectual property, state secrets, and personal data in a broad range of countries around the world is equally insatiable.
Below is a list of notable incidents reported up to April 2023:
- Norway (2010): The Nobel Peace Prize committee in Norway was reportedly targeted by Chinese hackers in a campaign designed to infiltrate computers and steal information after the award was given to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. The attack was part of a broader pattern of cyber activities against entities perceived as opposed to Chinese Communist Party’s interests.
- European Union (2011): Documents leaked by WikiLeaks suggested that the European Union was targeted by Chinese hackers, seeking to gain insights into the EU's foreign policy and economic strategies.
- African Union Headquarters (2012-2017): A report in 2018 revealed that the African Union’s headquarters in Ethiopia, built and financed by China, had its computer systems compromised from 2012 to 2017, with data regularly being sent to servers in Shanghai.
- Canada (2014): The National Research Council of Canada was breached by a highly sophisticated Chinese state-sponsored actor, according to the Canadian government. This cyber intrusion prompted a significant security overhaul and a temporary disconnection of the research council’s computer network from the rest of the government’s systems.
- United Kingdom (2015): Chinese hackers were accused of conducting a cyber attack on the British telecom giant, British Airways, potentially accessing the data of millions of customers. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre has also issued warnings about Chinese state-sponsored actors targeting UK intellectual property.
- Germany (2015): German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office and other German government entities were targeted by a group believed to be associated with the Chinese military. The attackers sought to infiltrate government networks to spy on communications and gather intelligence.
- India (2020): Amid border tensions between India and China, a report by a U.S.-based cybersecurity firm claimed that a Chinese state-sponsored group targeted the Indian government and private organizations with a phishing and malware campaign. The sectors targeted included telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and media.
- Australia (2020): The Australian government faced a sophisticated state-based cyber hack that targeted all levels of government, political organizations, essential service providers, and operators of other critical infrastructure. Although Australia did not officially name the suspect, media reports widely attributed the attack to China, citing unnamed sources within the intelligence community.
