Australia has joined a US-led collective of countries blaming China for a massive cyberattack on the Microsoft Exchange mail server back in January.
Chinese security agencies and other criminal groups alleged to have been working with them were able to access substantial stockpiles of valuable data and intellectual property, leaving tens of thousands of organisations exposed and vulnerable.
Speaking to Sky News Afternoon Agenda host Kieran Gilbert, Non-Resident Fellow James Brown said the condemnation of China over the allegations is an “example of Australia doing things in concert with allies around the world”.
“A quite significant block of countries all doing this in a deliberate and coordinated way to say enough is enough, China, you’ve got to stop doing this, you’ve got to at least acknowledge this is coming from your shores,” Brown told Sky News Australia.
Of the countries in the coalition, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom all directly attributed the Microsoft Exchange hack to China; 27 European Union member states also joined in, but have stopped short of overtly blaming China.