Chinese hackers breached the core of British democracy, gaining access to the personal information of 40 million voters. After more than two years of investigation, Britain is now preparing to formally accuse China of a cyberattack on the country’s Electoral Commission, which oversees nationwide elections.
IN SHORT
UK to formally accuse China of a cyberattack on the UK’s Electoral Commission
- The UK plans to accuse China of conducting a cyberattack on the Electoral Commission, which is in charge of overseeing national elections.
- The attack was identified in October 2022, but hackers had been able to access the commission’s systems for over a year since August 2021.
- The registers held at the time of the cyber attack include the name and address of anyone in the UK who was registered to vote between 2014 and 2022, as well as the names of those registered as overseas voters.
- The UK Foreign Office will blacklist several Chinese suspects involved in the breach.
- The UK will “stop at nothing” to protect against cyber attacks, a Government minister said.
- The UK could impose sanctions on individuals believed to be involved in these acts of state-backed interference, including the attack on the Electoral Commission.
The Electoral Commission attack was identified in October 2022 but the hackers had first been able to access the commission’s systems for more than a year, since August 2021.
The registers held at the time of the cyber attack include the name and address of anyone in the UK who was registered to vote between 2014 and 2022, as well as the names of those registered as overseas voters.
Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will caution numerous officials about being targeted by Chinese hackers. The UK Foreign Office will blacklist several Chinese suspects involved in the breach, said, . The United States government is also expected to attribute cyber attacks on America to Beijing on Monday.
The UK will “stop at nothing” to protect against cyber attacks, a Government minister said, as China was set to be accused of targeting the elections watchdog.
Nuclear minister Andrew Bowie said he could not comment on the speculation about China but “The fact is that this Government has invested a lot of time, money and effort in ensuring that our cyber security capabilities are at the place they need to be, we’ve increased the powers of our intelligence and security community to be able to deal with these threats.
Three MPs and a peer who have faced apparent hacking attempts will separately hold a press conference after being briefed by the director of security for the UK parliament.
All four – the Conservative MPs Iain Duncan Smith and Tim Loughton, the SNP’s Stewart McDonald, and crossbench peer David Alton are members of the the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), which groups together legislators from a number of countries, among them two dozen from the UK.
Luke de Pulford, the executive director of IPAC, said on Monday that he was surprised British ministers had taken so long to respond, especially given that the Electoral Commission hack was first detected in 2022.
“There seems to be a reluctance in general to hold China to account for its abuses,” he said, saying the UK had thus far imposed sanctions against some middle-level level officials in China over rights abuses in Xinjiang, but had failed to take similar action over Hong Kong, despite the UK’s historic role with the territory.
The United States sanctioned over 40 members of the government in Hong Kong, and the UK, even though we are the ones with a legal responsibility, have sanctioned zero, not one,” he said.
He insisted the government took a pragmatic approach to dealing with Beijing, amid reports that China’s EVE Energy is set to invest in a battery plant in the West Midlands.
“We have to have a grownup, pragmatic relationship with China. And that means looking at each of these investments in the round, on a case-by-case basis, ensuring that our security and our individual liberties and freedoms are not undermined by any of the investments that are under way.”
MPs and peers are thought to be among 43 people who the government looks set to confirm have been targeted by cyber-attacks backed by the Chinese state.
The UK could impose sanctions on individuals believed to be involved in these acts of state-backed interference, including the attack on the Electoral Commission.
A small group of politicians who are hawkish on China are said to have been called to a briefing by Parliament’s director of security, Alison Giles, in relation to the activity.
They include former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former minister Tim Loughton, crossbench peer Lord Alton and SNP MP Stewart McDonald, the Sunday Times reported.
The four are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) pressure group, which focuses on issues involving the increasingly assertive Asian power.
Meanwhile, reforms of UK spying laws are continue to make their way through Parliament, with the Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill also in the Commons on Monday.
The legislation includes measures to make it easier for agencies to examine and retain bulk datasets, such as publicly available online telephone records