China has sharply denied allegations of a large-scale hacking attack on software company Microsoft.
The Chinese Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand called the allegations on Tuesday "completely unfounded and irresponsible" and spoke of "malicious slander".
The Chinese embassy in Canberra, Australia, also rejected the allegations and described the American government as the “world champion of malicious cyber attacks”.
The two embassies were the first Chinese authorities to respond to allegations made by the United States and several allies on Monday. The government in Washington blamed China for the cyber attack on the Microsoft Exchange email server in March. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the Chinese State Security Ministry of running a network of “criminal hackers”.
In the past, cyber attacks against American targets were often attributed to Russian actors. There have already been a number of ransomware attacks that have hit hundreds of companies this year. The attacks on a large US pipeline and, most recently, the software company Kaseya were particularly serious. When attacking with ransomware, hackers lock or encrypt the computer systems of their victims in order to extort money from the users for the release of their data.