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Chinese internet security company 360 Security Technology has accused Indian hackers of breaking into its systems by using the novel coronavirus as “lure” to target the Chinese medical sphere, China’s state-backed media reported on Friday.
A report in China’s state-backed Global Times claimed that an Indian hackers’ group, BITTER, was behind advanced cyber-attacks (Advanced Persistent Threat) on China’s government agencies and companies, including Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Global Times report claimed that the group’s APT attacks have been happening since March 2019.
The news report said that as Beijing was grappling with the coronavirus epidemic, such attacks couldn’t have come at a more wrong time. “What's worse, those hackers with evil intentions could create more fear related to the virus, and thus disturb the social order,” said Global Times.
Global Times reminded New Delhi that it was the one who had called for tackling threats arising from cyberattacks back in 2019. "We need to arrive at a global understanding if not a global regulation, in order that the cyberspace remains open, safe and secure," the report quoted the Union External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar as saying at the time.
In the past, India has claimed to be on the receiving end of cyber onslaught of the Chinese hackers. In a 2018 report to India’s National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), an unprecedented 35 per cent of cyber attacks against the country were attributed to China.
