House of Commons Alerted Over a Year Before 2021 Chinese Cyberattack: Spy Agency Chief

The House of Commons was alerted to another cyber threat over a year before the recently revealed Chinese cyberattack targeting parliamentarians in 2021, a senior spy agency official told MPs. Caroline Xavier, chief of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), made the revelation while testifying before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on June 6. The committee is studying a 2021 incident in which 18 parliamentarians were targeted by a Chinese hacker group, known as APT31. The attack was disclosed in a U.S. indictment released in March. The indictment laid charges on seven Chinese nationals associated with the hacker group, noting that it has spent roughly 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign businesses and political officials, as well as critics of Beijing....