EU cyber security EXPOSED as China spied on diplomats’ secrets FOR YEARS
EU security systems were ruthlessly exposed as useless by Chinese hackers who spied on secret diplomatic communiqués FOR YEARS.
EU: Vice-President responds to reports of Chinese hacks
It has been revealed China’s military intelligence hacked an EU computer network and stole top-secret messages, US cybersecurity experts believe. The sensitive cables reveal EU concerns over Donald Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi. US company Area 1 Security has released a batch of the communications, including private discussions showing President Xi attacking Mr Trump.
The US was behaving as if it were fighting in a no-rules freestyle boxing match
One message describes Vladimir Putin’s Helsinki summit with the US President as “successful (at leat for Putin)”.
During the Helsinki press conference in July, Mr Trump had appeared to side with the Russian leader over his own intelligence service when asked about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 Presidential election.
In another sensitive leaked cable, President Xi accused the US president of “bullying” and promised China would “not submit”.
According to The Times, Mr Xi is quoted as saying" “The EU and China both focused on common rules, whereas the US was behaving as if it were fighting in a no-rules freestyle boxing match."
An EU cable from its Moscow branch described the July meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Putin as “successful (at least for Putin)”.
Another report warns Moscow may have deployed nuclear warheads in Crimea after it was annexed in 2014.
The European Council launched an investigation after Area 1 Security claimed China’s People’s Liberation Army penetrated the communications network. which is used by governments and EU bodies to discuss foreign policy.
Chinese hackers are alleged to have targeted Cyprus’s foreign ministry “to gain access to the entire European Union diplomatic network”, according to an Area 1 security officer.
Area 1 released a report on Wednesday which concluded the hackers breached the EU system with a phishing system to gain EU computer database passwords.
The cables were amassed over three years and are classed as low-security, according to The New York times, which published some of the cables.
More than 100 organisations and and institutions were targeted, the UN among the organisations hacked.
In one EU diplomatic cable, Crimea was described as a “hot zone where nuclear warheads might have already been deployed.”
In July, President Xi is quoted as saying China “would not submit to bullying….even if a trade war hurt everybody”.
President Xi is quoted as saying: “China was not a backward country anymore.”
Other conversations show EU diplomats discussing White House attempts to use damage control after Mr Trump’s disastrous news conference with Mr Putin in Helsinki.
A European Council spokesman said: “The [EU] Council Secretariat is aware of allegations regarding a potential leak of sensitive information and is actively investigating the issue.”