UK identifies hostile intent from China

Chinese “state-affiliated actors” were behind two malicious cyber campaigns targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians in the UK. Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, confirmed that two incidents (an attack on the Electoral Commission and separate “reconnaissance activity” aimed at hawkish parliamentarians) demonstrated “hostile intent from China”. The government has blamed the campaign against MPs, including Iain Duncan Smith and Tim Loughton, on the APT31 hacking group, but a specific entity has not been named for the Electoral Commission attack. The Foreign Office is sanctioning a front company and two actors involved in the operations of APT31, which is affiliated to China. The US government announced similar sanctions on Monday. Duncan Smith was not impressed with the UK response, describing it as “an elephant giving birth to a mouse”.