Chinese hacker stole Mekong data from Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

It was interesting detail buried in a long US indictment accusing China of global cyber spying. Among the governments targeted by Chinese hackers was Cambodia, one of Beijing’s most loyal Asian allies.

Hacking’s target, which said two sources aware of the indictment were the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cambodia, also revealed-the Mekong River, a new battlefield for US and Chinese influence in Southeast Asia. Discussion between China and Cambodia on use Asia.

According to the US Department of Justice, four Chinese (three security officials and one contract hacker) have been charged with attacks targeting dozens of businesses, universities and government agencies inside and outside the United States.

No immediate response was obtained from the defendant nominated in the indictment.

The accusation that China was forged and had political motives detailed activities that said it was a front-runner operated by China’s national security in Hainan, a state on the island of China near Southeast Asia30. Outlined in the US Court indictment on page.

According to the indictment, one of the targets of the hackers was “Cambodia Government Ministry A”, which in January 2018 “stolen data on discussions between the Chinese and Cambodian governments on the use of the Mekong River.”

The ministry is Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry, and two sources who are directly aware of the indictment told Reuters.

The Chinese embassy in Cambodia did not respond to two email requests for comment from Reuters. In a post to its WeChat messaging account, the embassy declined the US claim and said it had not received a request for comment from Reuters.

In response to a question from Reuters, China’s Foreign Ministry said the accusation was unfounded and the United States was the world’s largest source of cyberattacks.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cambodia introduced the question to the Ministry of Telecommunications, but declined to comment. Government spokesman Phay Siphan declined to comment.

“Secrets and data”

Known as the upstream Lankan, the 4,350 km (2,700 mile) Mekong has supported the agricultural and fishery community for thousands of years, passing through Cambodia and Vietnam along the border from China to Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. I did.

Like the South China Sea, the Mekong River has become at the forefront of competition between the United States and China, and Beijing has overtaken Washington in both spending and influence on downstream nations, at the mercy of control of the river’s waters.

According to the indictment, Chinese hackers from the Ministry of Cambodia on the same day that Cambodia hosted the Lankan Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Summit in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, supported by China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China. I got the data. , January 10, 2018.

According to the indictment, the data obtained by the hackers is relevant to these discussions without giving details.

On the same day, according to the indictment, the hacker hid “corporate secrets and unique hydroacoustic data” in digital images of koalas and then-US President Donald Trump. The material was sent to an online account managed by a hacker.

It was not clear whether the underwater acoustic data collected by sonar and used to monitor underwater features was from the Mekong River region.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Southeast Asian Foreign Ministers that the United States supported the “free and open Mekong region” under the Washington-backed Mekong-US partnership.

Report by Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh, James Pearson in Hanoi, Newsroom in Beijing Edited by Robert Birsel and Mark Heinrich