Washington (AFP)

Washington and its allies will condemn Monday, together, Beijing's "malicious" cyber activities and accuse it of carrying out extortion operations against their companies, but also of threatening their security, according to a senior American official.

In comments to the press that could further poison the already strained relations between the two powers, the official said, on condition of anonymity, that "China's irresponsible behavior in cyberspace was not consistent with its objective. to appear as a responsible leader ".

China's cyber activities represent "a serious threat to the economy and national security" of the United States and its allies, he said.

On Monday, he announced, "an unprecedented group of allies and partners, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and NATO, will join the United States to expose the malicious cyber activities of the Chinese Ministry of Security ".

They will notably accuse the Chinese government of "using criminal hackers" to carry out attacks around the world, sometimes "for personal gain", and will reveal "50 of their tactics, techniques and procedures", he said. He specifies.

These attacks may be aimed at stealing data or technology, but "reports also blame hackers linked to the Chinese government for ransom demands of millions of dollars from private companies," he continued, without saying. give details.

"Ransomware" or "ransomware" attacks, which involve encrypting a target's data and requiring money to decrypt it, are on the rise and several large US companies have been targeted recently, instead. by pirates linked to Russia.

In their appeal, the United States and its allies will formally blame China for the massive hacking carried out in March against the Microsoft group's Exchange messaging services, which is said to have affected at least 30,000 organizations, including local American companies, cities and institutions. .

The tech giant had already accused a group of hackers linked to Beijing, called "Hafnium".

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Washington and its allies are also exchanging technical advice to confront China in cyberspace and do not exclude "other actions to place it face up to its responsibilities," the official said.

According to him, "a single action will not be enough to change the attitude of China in cyberspace, and a country acting alone either".

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"We propose a common cyber approach with our allies and make it clear what our expectations are in terms of responsible behavior of nations in cyberspace," he concluded.

Recent accusations of cyberattacks in the United States have been aimed more at Russia than China.

Washington last week offered rewards of $ 10 million for information about foreign online extortionists, hoping to stop the ransomware attacks.

American specialists believe that many of them come from Russia, even if the degree of involvement of the Russian public authorities is still debated.

Moscow rejects all responsibility.

© 2021 AFP