Beijing has again rejected claims made earlier this year by the US and Microsoft that Chinese-linked hackers were responsible for the high-profile cyber intrusion known as Volt Typhoon.
In a report released Monday, China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center described the accusations as a “political farce” driven by Washington. The agency said more than 50 international cybersecurity experts reviewed the evidence and concluded there was insufficient proof to connect Volt Typhoon to Chinese state actors.
Microsoft first disclosed Volt Typhoon in 2023. Following that disclosure, the US government and allied partners warned that a China-backed hacking group had maintained access to US industrial networks for several years. Beijing has consistently denied those charges; Monday’s statement marks the third time this year China’s cyber defense agency has publicly addressed the Volt Typhoon matter.
The report also accused US intelligence agencies of long-running cyber reconnaissance and network intrusion operations. It singled out a tool referred to as Marble, asserting that it can strip developer identifiers and embed misleading strings in languages such as Chinese and Russian to confound investigators and create false links to other nations.
Chinese officials routinely dispute allegations of state-sponsored hacking and frequently counter-accuse the United States of conducting its own offensive cyber operations, though these claims are often made without presenting detailed public evidence. Still, some Chinese cybersecurity firms have publicly alleged that American actors have targeted foreign systems.
In 2022, one prominent Chinese cyber firm claimed a campaign originating from the US targeted computers across 45 countries and regions, including China. At the same time, China’s Ministry of State Security has outlined a widening range of sensitive data it says foreign actors are attempting to exfiltrate.
This exchange of allegations underscores deepening tensions in cyberspace between Beijing and Washington, with each side denying culpability while attributing hostile operations to the other. As cyber threats evolve and increasingly affect critical infrastructure worldwide, the need for transparent investigations and international cooperation grows more urgent.
The Volt Typhoon episode highlights how difficult it is to definitively attribute cyberattacks to specific state actors and how such accusations can further strain diplomatic relations.
(Photo by Engin Akyurt)
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