Czech government blames China for cyber campaign targeting Foreign ministry network

The Czech government has publicly held China responsible for a damaging cyber campaign targeting one of the communication systems used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (non-partisan) stated on social media that he has summoned the Chinese ambassador in response. The ministry has since adopted a new, more secure communication platform. According to the ministry, the campaign, active since 2022, was carried out by the cyber-espionage group APT31, linked to China’s Ministry of State Security. The targeted network is classified as part of Czech critical infrastructure. The attribution of the attack was made with high confidence by the Czech Security Information Service, Military Intelligence, the Office for Foreign Relations and Information, and the National Cyber and Information Security Agency.