Chinese hackers stole Mekong River data from Cambodian ministry: Sources
The Mekong River is a new battleground for US and Chinese influence in Southeast Asia.

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1 hour ago

PHNOM PENH/HANOI (REUTERS) - Buried in a long US indictment accusing China of a global cyber-espionage campaign was a curious detail: Among the governments targeted by Chinese hackers was Cambodia, one of Beijing's most loyal Asian allies.

The target of the hack, which two sources with knowledge of the indictment said was Cambodia's foreign ministry, was also revealing: discussions between China and Cambodia over the use of the Mekong River, a new battleground for United States and Chinese influence in South-east Asia.

Four Chinese nationals - three security officials and a contract hacker - have been charged over attacks aimed at dozens of companies, universities and government agencies in the US and abroad, the US Justice Department said on Monday (July 19).

Reaction from the defendants named in the indictment was not immediately available.

The accusations, which China has said were fabricated and politically motivated, were outlined in a 30-page US court indictment about the activities of what it said was a front company run by Chinese state security in Hainan, a Chinese island province near South-east Asia.

Among the hackers' targets was "Cambodian Government Ministry A", according to the indictment, from which they "stole data pertaining to discussions between the governments of China and Cambodia over the use of the Mekong River" in January 2018.

That ministry was Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, two sources with direct knowledge of the indictment told Reuters.

China's embassy in Cambodia did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment. The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

A Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman referred questions to the telecommunications ministry, which declined to comment.

Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan declined to comment.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-as ... ry-sources

Geee can't wait for the government's big firewall to track everything we do on the internet here, sure that'll work out just fine

Government Largely Silent on Chinese Hacking Scandal
Gerald Flynn 07/23/2021 10:52 AM
Evidence that state-sanctioned Chinese hackers spied on Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs prior to multilateral talks over the Mekong River in 2018 have been met with silence from officials

PHNOM PENH--Four Chinese hackers, three of whom are believed to be security officials working for the Chinese government, were charged in the United States with numerous counts of computer intrusion crimes that targeted a range of businesses, universities and government entities across the US and beyond.

The cyber-attacks were allegedly carried out between 2011 and 2018, according to the US Department of Justice which released a statement regarding the now-unsealed indictment on July 19.

“On or about January 10, 2018, members of the conspiracy infiltrated the network of Cambodian Government Ministry A and stole data pertaining to discussions between the Governments of China and Cambodia over use of the Mekong River,” the Grand Jury indictment dated November 2019 read.

The indictment details how Cambodian linguists were then “recruited” by “members of the conspiracy” to translate stolen data—the data in question was reportedly linked to the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders’ Summit that took place in Phnom Penh in January 2018 and was hailed “a great success” by Chinese state media.

The 30-page indictment lists a wide range of victims targeted by the Chinese hackers, but two sources familiar with the matter confirmed that “Cambodian Government Ministry A,” whose data was allegedly stolen in January 2018 ahead of multilateral discussions regarding the Mekong River, was in fact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Koy Kuong, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has so far declined to comment on the matter and would not confirm whether he was aware of any data breaches perpetrated by Chinese hackers. Sources have stated that the Foreign Affairs Ministry was informed of the hack as long as six months ago.
Full article: https://cambodianess.com/article/govern ... ng-scandal

Chinese reply to allegations:

Chinese Embassy in Cambodia refutes false report by Reuters on Mekong River data 'hacking'
By Global Times Published: Jul 23, 2021 01:37 PM
The Chinese Embassy in Cambodia on Thursday refuted a false report published by Reuters, which claimed that Chinese hackers "stole Mekong [River] data from Cambodia."

The Reuters report, also published on Thursday, quoted the US Justice Department and two anonymous sources as saying that Chinese hackers targeted Cambodia's foreign ministry and "stole data pertaining to discussions between the governments of China and Cambodia over the use of the Mekong River in January 2018."

The report had obvious factual and logical loopholes, completely based on fabrications made by the US, the embassy said. "We express grave concern and strong opposition to it," the embassy wrote on its website on Thursday evening.

It also disproved of the report's claim that the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia didn't respond to Reuters' comment requests. "That was grossly inconsistent with the facts," the embassy stated. "We have never received any inquiry from Reuters [regarding to this report]."

"We hoped that Reuters will strictly observe objectivity and enhance the professionalism and seriousness of its reporting," the embassy added.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229451.shtml