Chinese cybercriminals were behind two major cyberattacks on the Belgian Army and interior ministry, Belgium says. The country has called the Chinese ambassador to the mat and told him that China must put an end to these practices.
The attacks have” significantly affected our sovereignty, democracy and security, ” the State Department said. For two years, cybercriminals had access to networks of the Interior Ministry, which includes, for example, the police, the Immigration Service and the organization of elections. And because of the attack on defense, the network was silent for weeks and employees could not mail, for example.
Belgium has now identified a number of Chinese hacker groups as perpetrators. They all have close ties to the Chinese government. Belgium does not go so far as to directly accuse the government in Beijing. Beijing must “not allow its territory to be used for malicious cyber activity” and the country must make every effort to investigate and resolve the matter, the Foreign Ministry said.