The Czech Republic accused China of Kiberatak: hackers followed the correspondence of the Czech Foreign Ministry diplomats for two years

The Czech Republic accused China of Kiberatak. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic has published a statement about a malicious cybercard, which lasted since 2022 and influenced the work of the country's critical infrastructure. The statement says that this refers to "one of the unequal networks of the Czech Republic." The Radio Prague International publication reports that during the attack, hackers hacked the electronic mailboxes of the Czech Republic of Foreign Affairs and for about two years followed their correspondence.

The head of the Foreign Ministry, Jan Lipavsky, announced the delivery of the note to the Chinese ambassador Feng Pao.

The attack was carried out by the hacker group APT31. The Czech Republic notes that the group is behind the group of the State Security of the PRC.

APT31 (Advanced Persistent Threat 31), also known as zirconium, Judgiment Panda, Violet Typhoon, Altaire and Bronze Vinewood, is the Chinese cybercy group, which, according to the US authorities, is under the auspices of the ministry, under the auspices of the Ministry The State Security of the PRC, in particular its regional unit in the province of Hubei.

Methods: Fishing campaigns using malicious investments and links, operation of “zero-day vulnerability” in popular applications such as Java and Adobe Flash, attacks on isolated (Air-Gapped) systems using specialized malicious software that can be stolen from systems that are not connected to the Internet.

APT31 aimed at a wide range of victims, including government institutions of the United States, Great Britain, Finland, Norway, Germany and other countries, politicians, diplomats, journalists, activists and researchers, critical infrastructure, including the energy sector, telecommunications and the defense industry.

In March 2024, the US Department of Justice charged seven hackers related to APT31 for participating in cyberspios and cyber attacks aimed at the theft of intellectual property and the compromise of government institutions. This is reported, in particular, the American gentleman Rewarts for Justice, which offers a reward of up to $ 10 million for information about the grouping. The US Department of Finance imposed sanctions against Wuhan Xiaorizhi and several individuals associated with APT31.