China allegedly launched a series of cyberattacks on Ukraine's military and nuclear facilities in February, prior to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to a report in the British daily newspaper, The Times.
In The Times' story, intelligence report memos, via Ukraine's security service (SBU), asserted that the Chinese government attempted to hack more than 600 websites belonging to the Ukrainian government and other institutions.
SBU believes the cyberattacks were first initiated before the end of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing (Feb. 4-20), and then escalated on Feb. 23 — just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to invade Ukraine.
The cyberattack targets allegedly included Ukraine's defense forces, the national bank, and the country's railway authority. Sources to the reporting speculate that China intended to steal data, or identify ways to disable Ukraine's infrastructure components.
In addition, counting the weeks and days leading up to Russia's territorial invasion, Ukrainian officials have accused the Russians of targeting several Ukrainian government websites, including the ministries of foreign affairs and defense, along with the Ukraine parliament, according to The Times.
China has yet to publicly support Russia for being the aggressor in its war with Ukraine.
As such, it's difficult to gauge what kind of role China might have — if any — when it comes to cyberattacks on Ukraine, says Josephine Wolff, an associate professor of cybersecurity policy at the Tufts University Fletcher School.
"Generally, when we talk about China in cyberspace, we're talking about cyber espionage more than cyberattacks," Wolff told The Times.
Michael Daniel, president and CEO at Cyber Threat Alliance, shared a similar sentiment regarding China's alleged role.
"I find it unlikely that the Russians would enlist China's help with that," said Daniel, who spoke to The Times before reports of February's alleged cyberattack became public. "Russia has so much [cyber] capability on its own ... it's difficult for me to imagine that kind of collaboration."
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