US urged to halt cyber activities monitoring 45 countries, regions

China strongly urged the United States on Thursday to "explain its irresponsible and malicious cyber activities" after a hacking group of the US National Security Agency was found to have been using a backdoor to monitor 45 countries and regions including China for over a decade.

"We urge the US side to immediately stop such activities," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing, adding that China will take necessary measures to safeguard its cybersecurity and interests.

Experts from Qi An Pangu lab, a Beijing-based cybersecurity lab, said on Wednesday that they have decoded the full technical details and organizational links of "Telescreen" (Bvp47), a top-of-the-line backdoor－or secret cyber entrance－created by Equation, an elite hacking group affiliated with the NSA, according to media reports.

The backdoor is said to have been used on more than 287 targets in the academic, economic development, military, science, and telecom sectors, in 45 countries, mainly China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Germany, Spain, India and Mexico. It went largely undetected for over a decade.

In 2020, a report released by Qihoo 360 showed that the US hacking group APT-C-39 had for up to 11 years been attacking and infiltrating key Chinese sectors, such as aerospace, scientific research institutions, the oil industry, major internet companies and government agencies.

"It is worth noting that relevant attacks can be traced back to as early as 2005 and continued to 2015 and later. This makes us doubt the US sincerity to implement the consensus reached in 2015 by China and the US on combating cybercrimes," Hua said.

Clear evidence

She said the latest report once again shows that besides China and major developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the US even targets its European allies, Quad partners and members of the Five Eyes alliance with cyberattacks.

"Now, the US is actively engaged in multilateral and bilateral cybersecurity cooperation across the world in the name of helping other countries to improve their capacities. We cannot help wondering what its real intention is by doing so," she said.

Noting that cyberspace is mankind's common terrain and cybersecurity is a common challenge all countries face, Hua said that China hopes the US will adopt a responsible attitude in cyberspace and work jointly with all parties to safeguard its peace and security through dialogue and cooperation.