UK blames China for ‘malicious’ cyber-attack on voter data

UK blames China for ‘malicious’ cyber-attack on voter data

The UK on Monday accused China state-affiliated cyber organisations of at least two “malicious” and “reprehensible” cyber campaigns targeting Britain's voter data and parliamentarians.

In a statement in the House of Commons, the government revealed that the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of its Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), concluded that the country’s Electoral Commission systems were “highly likely” compromised by a Chinese entity between 2021 and 2022.

The NCSC also claims that it is “almost certain” that the China state-affiliated APT31 conducted reconnaissance activity against British parliamentarians during a separate campaign in 2021. All such attacks to interfere with UK democracy and politics are said to have been unsuccessful, but it has led to two individuals and one company linked to APT31 being sanctioned.