UK’s Dowden accuses China of involvement in cyber-attacks on voter data

• The UK government expected to link cyber-attacks on the Electoral Commission to China.
• The attacks occurred in August 2021 and were only revealed last year.
• Dowden is expected to suggest links to Beijing and outline the UK’s response.

The UK government is expected to link cyber-attacks that accessed personal details of millions of voters to China. The attacks on the Electoral Commission occurred in August 2021 but were only revealed last year. It is believed that several MPs and peers critical of Beijing were also targeted in cyber-attacks.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will address Parliament on Monday about the threat. The BBC understands that other Western nations will express similar concerns.

The Electoral Commission acknowledged the attacks last August, stating that unspecified “hostile actors” had gained access to copies of the electoral registers and had breached its emails and “control systems”. However, the commission added that the attacks had neither impacted any elections nor affected anyone’s registration status.

It is now believed that Mr. Dowden will suggest that those behind the attack had links to Beijing, as well as laying out how the UK will respond to what it deems a wider threat.

Publicly identifying the attackers lays the groundwork for potential legal and political actions, such as sanctions or diplomatic protests. Linking the attackers to China, a fellow member of the UN Security Council would escalate the diplomatic tension between the two countries.

This signifies a significant shift from just a few years ago when British leaders aimed to usher in a “Golden Age” with China. The prime minister at the time was David Cameron, who now serves as the foreign secretary after acquiring a seat in the House of Lords last year.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, stated that the government cracks down on and punishes all types of malicious cyber activities. He urged all parties to “stop spreading false information and adopt a responsible attitude to jointly maintain peace and security in cyberspace.”

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