New Zealand accuses China of hacking parliament following US, UK allegations

New Zealand’s cybersecurity bureau says it has established links between a Chinese state-sponsored actor known as APT40 and malicious cyber activity

The Chinese embassy rejected the accusations as ‘groundless and irresponsible’ – a day after the US and UK sanctioned seven China-linked hackers

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The parliament building in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo: AP

Published: 1:06pm, 26 Mar 2024

Hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted New Zealand’s parliament in 2021, officials said on Tuesday.

New Zealand’s allegation comes a day after US and British authorities announced a set of criminal charges and sanctions against seven hackers, all believed to be living in China, who targeted US officials, journalists, corporations, pro-democracy activists and the UK’s election watchdog. Both New Zealand and Australia have condemned the broader activity.

“Foreign interference of this nature is unacceptable, and we have urged China to refrain from such activity in future,” New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement. “New Zealand will continue to speak out – consistently and predictably – where we see concerning behaviours like this.”

The Chinese flag flies at the Chinese consulate building in Auckland. China’s embassy in Wellington denied interfering in New Zealand’s internal affairs, calling the accusations “groundless”. Photo: New Zealand Herald via AP

He said concerns about cyber activity attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese government, targeting democratic institutions in both New Zealand and Britain, had been conveyed to the Chinese ambassador, Wang Xiaolong.

China’s embassy in New Zealand said in a statement that it rejects “outright such groundless and irresponsible accusations” and had expressed its dissatisfaction and resolute opposition with New Zealand authorities.

“We have never, nor will we in the future, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, including New Zealand. Accusing China of foreign interference is completely barking up the wrong tree,” the statement said.

New Zealand’s government said earlier on Tuesday its communications security bureau (GCSB), which overseas cybersecurity and signals intelligence, had established links between a Chinese state-sponsored actor known as Advanced Persistent Threat 40 (APT40) and malicious cyber activity targeting New Zealand’s parliamentary services and parliamentary counsel office in 2021.