Cyberwarfare by China is the aggregate of all combative activities in the cyberspace which are taken by organs of the People's Republic of China, including affiliated advanced persistent threat groups, against other countries.
Organization
While some details remain unconfirmed, it is understood that China organizes its resources as follows:
“Specialized military network warfare forces” () - Military units specialized in network attack and defense. "PLA - authorized forces” () - network warfare specialists in the Ministry of State Security (MSS) and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). “Non-governmental forces” () - civilian and semi-civilian groups that spontaneously engage in network attack and defense.
In 2017, Foreign Policy provided an estimated range for China's "hacker army" personnel, anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 individuals.
In response to claims that Chinese universities, businesses, and politicians have been subject to cyber espionage by the United States National Security Agency since 2009, the PLA announced a cyber security squad in May 2011 to defend their own networks.
Accusations of espionage and cyber-attacks
Australia
In May 2013, ABC News claimed that China stole blueprints to the headquarters of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
Canada
Officials in the Canadian government claimed that Chinese hackers compromised several departments within the federal government in early 2011, though the Chinese government has denied involvement. In 2014, Canada's Chief Information Officer claimed that Chinese hackers compromised computer systems within the National Research Council.
India
Officials in the Indian government believe that attacks on Indian government networks, such as the attack on the Indian National Security Council, have originated from China. According to the Indian government, Chinese hackers are experts in operating botnets, of which were used in these attacks. Additionally, other instances of Chinese cyberattacks against India's cyberspace have been reported in multitude.
Japan
In April 2021 Japan claimed that the Chinese military ordered cyberattacks on about 200 Japanese companies and research institutes, including JAXA.
United States
The United States of America has accused China of cyberwarfare attacks that targeted the networks of important American military, commercial, research, and industrial organizations. A Congressional advisory group has declared China "the single greatest risk to the security of American technologies" and "there has been a marked increase in cyber intrusions originating in China and targeting U.S. government and defense-related computer systems".
In January 2010, Google reported targeted attacks on its corporate infrastructure originating from China "that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google." Gmail accounts belonging to two human rights activists were compromised in an attack on Google's password system. American security experts connected the Google attack to various other political and corporate espionage efforts originating from China, which included spying against military, commercial, research, and industrial corporations. Obama administration officials called the cyberattacks "an increasingly serious cyber threat to US critical industries."
In addition to Google, at least 34 other companies have been attacked. Reported cases include Northrop Grumman, Symantec, Yahoo, Dow Chemical, and Adobe Systems. Cyber-espionage has been aimed at both commercial and military interests.
Diplomatic cables highlight US concerns that China is exploiting its access to Microsoft source code to boost its offensive and defensive capabilities.
A number of private computer security firms have stated that they have growing evidence of cyber-espionage efforts originating from China, including the "Comment Group".
China has denied accusations of cyberwarfare, and has accused the United States of engaging in cyber-warfare against it, accusations which the United States denies.
During March 2013, high-level discussions continued.
In May 2014, a federal grand jury in the United States indicted five PLA Unit 61398 officers on charges of theft of confidential business information from U.S. commercial firms and planting malware on their computers.