Beijing (AFP)
The Chinese government on Friday rejected the suspicion that Chinese hackers could be spying on Airbus subcontractors, as reported by AFP the previous day.
"I can assure you that China is a strong defender of network security and strongly opposes any form of cyber attack," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters.
"In recent times, there have been numerous reports of cyberattacks, and in these articles, without any evidence, some are still trying to make China dirty and dirty," the spokesman said.
"This is neither professional nor responsible," he said.
In recent months, Airbus has been the target of several computer attacks launched by subcontractors of the aircraft manufacturer, AFP has learned by investigating several sources of security.
While refusing to formally attribute this series of attacks, several sources mentioned a group linked to the Chinese authorities, identified under the code name APT10.
APT10 is a Chinese cyber-espionage group linked, according to Washington, to Beijing's intelligence services, both in military and economic intelligence.
From concordant sources, hackers have targeted technical certification documents, a formal procedure to ensure that the various elements of an aircraft meet the security requirements.
China has been trying to develop for several years its first medium-mail, the C919, but has trouble getting it certified.
© 2019 AFP