UK fears Chinese hackers compromised critical infrastructure

Chinese state actors have made widespread — and likely successful — efforts to access British critical infrastructure networks, according to UK officials, underscoring fears of vulnerabilities to increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks by foreign powers, Report informs via Bloomberg.

Senior ministers in the Labour government have been informed since taking power in July that hackers linked to Beijing have probably compromised supply chains and computer systems key to a range of vital services, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. Such Chinese activity is systemic and goes beyond the alleged attacks on Parliament and the Defense Ministry made public in the past year, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss national security matters.

The officials said successive governments had decided not to make public the full extent of these vulnerabilities, and that the matter of disclosure was under consideration by the new administration. The officials declined to specify the entities targeted.

The Chinese Embassy in London didn’t respond to a request for comment.

British security agencies have repeatedly highlighted the risk of Chinese interference domestically, with MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum warning in a speech last week that the UK and its allies “should expect further testing and in places defeating” of their cyber defenses. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration was informed of vulnerabilities to the UK’s infrastructure networks soon after the July 4 election, the people said, prompting work on new cybersecurity legislation.

Starmer’s office and several departments declined to comment on the cyber incursions. “The UK government maintains complete confidence in the robustness of our security systems and their adaptive capacity to continuously address and evolve in response to evolving threats, ensuring the safety of all citizens,” the Treasury said in a statement.