US Senators urge Biden to impose sanctions on China for cyberattacks

Washington [US], July 28 (ANI): A group of US Senators has urged President Joe Biden to respond to China’s state-sponsored cyberattacks with sanctions similar to those implemented against Russian entities.

US Senators Marsha Blackburn, Roger Marshall, MD (R-Kan.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Tom Cotton (R-Ark) also asked how the administration will protect the country from further cyberattacks.

In a letter to the President, the Senators said: “I call on you to clarify your red lines and provide transparency regarding how your administration will act to protect the US from further cyberattacks. I also call on you to respond to the People’s Republic of China state-sponsored cyberattacks with sanctions similar to those implemented against Russian entities and individuals in your April 15 Executive Order.”

“The US must respond to these attacks with swift and decisive force to defend our national interests and impose costs for Russian and Chinese actions that seek to harm us” they added.

“The US must respond to these attacks with swift and decisive force to defend our national interests and impose costs for Russian and Chinese actions that seek to harm us” they added.

The Senators also said that the letter is regarding the recent Cybersecurity Advisory issued by the National Security Agency (NSA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) assessing that the People’s Republic of China state-sponsored malicious cyber activity is a major threat to US and Allied cyberspace assets.

Earlier, a Joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) was issued which stated that state-backed cyber actors aggressively target political, economic, military, educational, and critical infrastructure (CI) to steal sensitive data, and emerging key technologies, intellectual property, and personally identifiable information (PII).

An unprecedented group of US allies and partners, including the EU, the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, and NATO, have joined in exposing and criticising China’s Ministry of State Security’s malicious cyber activities. This is the first time NATO has condemned China’s cyber activities.

The joint advisory exposes how some cyber actors target sectors include managed service providers, semiconductor companies, the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), universities, and medical institutions. These cyber operations support China’s long-term economic and military development objectives, the advisory said. (ANI)