GCSB Minister Judith Collins says the GCSB has established links between a state-sponsored actor linked to China and malicious cyber activity targeting Parliamentary entities in New Zealand.
The revelation prompted officials to speak to the Chinese ambassador about the situation. The Chinese Embassy responded that it “rejects outright” the accusations.
Today’s comments came as Collins said New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of China’s “state-backed malicious cyber activity”.
The activity impacted the UK’s electoral commission and targeted members of the UK Parliament, she said.
“The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable.”
Domestically, Collins said the GCSB’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) completed a robust technical assessment following a compromise of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021, and had attributed the activity to a PRC state-sponsored group known as APT40.
“Fortunately, in this instance, the NCSC worked with the impacted organisations to contain the activity and remove the actor shortly after they were able to access the network.”
Foreign Minister Winston Peters directed senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to “lay out our position and express our concerns” to the ambassador about malicious cyber activity by groups sponsored by the Chinese government that target democratic institutions.
“That conversation has now taken place,” he said.
“Foreign interference of this nature is unacceptable, and we have urged China to refrain from such activity in future. New Zealand will continue to speak out – consistently and predictably – where we see concerning behaviours like this.”
Collins said the Government commended the impacted organisations for “acting decisively” to mitigate the impact, and for the measures they have taken since the incident to harden their cyber defences and strengthen the resilience of their networks.
“These networks contain important information that enables the effective operation of the New Zealand government. It is critical that we protect this information from all malicious cyber threats.”
Many of New Zealand’s international partners today shared their experiences with malicious cyber activity impacting global democratic processes and institutions, she said.
“This collective response from the international community serves as a timely reminder to all organisations and individuals to have strong cyber security measures in place.”
Collins said New Zealand and China had been “friends” for a long time and “absolutely” still was.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said it was a “big step” for New Zealand to call out China’s activity.
“We will stand up and call out China or any other state.”
He said liberal democracy was “under attack around the world” and needed to be defended.
“This is an entirely appropriate response from New Zealand.”
Labour’s Chris Hipkins said he endorsed Collins’ statement and his Government had been moving toward naming China but said as it was such a “big step” to do so it hadn’t yet happened.
“There is a process that we go through.
“There can be other reasons for delays sometimes. National security reasons.”
He said it was “probably the biggest” infraction he became aware of while Prime Minister.
Hipkins said economic sanctions weren’t considered while Labour was in Government.
He said it would be “appropriate” for the Foreign Affairs Minister to have a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador.
Asked if he was concerned about blowback from China, he said: “I imagine that they won’t be happy that we’ve gone public with this information”
He said he was not in a position to raise it with officials when he was in China last year.
“We raised a range of uncomfortable issues … there will always be more things you can raise.”
He said diplomacy was about getting the balance right.
China rejects ‘irresponsible accusations’
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand said in a statement they “reject outright such groundless and irresponsible accusations”.
The embassy additionally dismissed what it described as “megaphone diplomacy”.
“We have taken note of the recent statements made by the New Zealand side claiming that a People’s Republic of China state-sponsored group carried out malicious cyber activity targeting Parliamentary entities in New Zealand.
“We reject outright such groundless and irresponsible accusations and have lodged serious démarches to New Zealand’s relevant authorities, expressing strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition.
The spokesperson said “cybersecurity is a global challenge” and that “one needs to have adequate and objective evidence, instead of smearing other countries when facts do not exist, still less politicise or even weaponise cybersecurity issues”.
“We have never, nor will we in the future, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, including New Zealand.”