UK government expected to attribute cyberattacks on election watchdog to Chinese hackers

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• The British government is expected to attribute a series of cyberattacks on the U.K.'s election watchdog and lawmakers to hackers associated with the Chinese government.
• Measures against cyber organizations affiliated with the Chinese government are anticipated to be announced on Monday.
• The attack potentially accessed data on millions of U.K. voters held by the Electoral Commission and targeted lawmakers critical of China.

Britain's government is expected to blame a string of malicious cyberactivity targeting the U.K.'s election watchdog and lawmakers on hackers linked to the Chinese government.

Officials are expected to announce Monday measures against cyber organizations and individuals affiliated with the Chinese government for an attack that may have gained access to information on tens of millions of U.K. voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as cyberespionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about the China threat.

The Electoral Commission said in August that it identified a breach of its system in October 2022, though it added that "hostile actors" had first been able to access its servers since 2021.

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At the time, the watchdog said the data included the names and addresses of registered voters. But it said that much of the information was already in the public domain, and that possessing such information was unlikely to influence election results.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attends a visit to an engineering firm on March 25, 2024, in Barrow-in-Furness, England. Britain's government is expected to blame a string of malicious cyberactivity targeting the U.K.'s election watchdog and lawmakers on hackers linked to the Chinese government. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

Separately, three lawmakers including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith told reporters Monday they have been "subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time." Duncan Smith said in one example, hackers impersonating him used fake email addresses to write to his contacts.

The politicians are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international pressure group focused on countering Beijing's growing influence and calling out alleged rights abuses by the Chinese government.

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Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is expected to give details in Parliament later Monday.

Ahead of that announcement, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated that China is "behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad" and is "the greatest state-based threat to our economic security."

"It’s right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing," he said, without providing details.

China critics including Duncan Smith have long called for Sunak to take a tougher stance on China and label the country a threat — rather than a "challenge" — to the U.K., but the government has refrained from using such critical language.

Responding to the reports, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said countries should base their claims on evidence rather than "smear" others without factual basis.

"Cybersecurity issues should not be politicized," ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. "We hope all parties will stop spreading false information, take a responsible attitude, and work together to maintain peace and security in cyberspace."