China calls cyberattack allegations 'irresponsible'

China on Monday dismissed as “groundless” the allegations that Chinese hackers attempted to breach the email systems and internal websites of several Philippine government agencies.

A spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy said Beijing "firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyber attack in accordance with law, allows no country or individual to engage in cyber attack and other illegal activities on Chinese soil or using Chinese infrastructure."

“Some Filipino officials and media maliciously speculated about and groundlessly accused China of engaging in cyber attacks against the Philippines, even went as far as connecting these cyber attacks with the South China Sea disputes,” the spokesperson countered.

“Such remarks are highly irresponsible,” the spokesperson added. 

The Chinese official said cybersecurity is a “global challenge” and called on countries to safeguard cybersecurity through dialogue and cooperation. 

Earlier, the Philippine Coast Guard said its website remained secure following reports of hacking attempts on government agencies.

This developed after the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) over the weekend said hackers believed to be operating from China breached the email systems and internal websites of government agencies that used a cloud service provider, most likely to gather information.

DICT Undersecretary for Cybersecurity Jeff Ian Dy said the department, in cooperation with the cloud service provider, detected and mitigated the situation from further escalation by shutting down the access of hackers.

Some of the targeted emails include: 

• cabsec.gov.ph
• coastguard.gov.ph
• cpbrd.congress.gov.ph
• dict.gov.ph
• doj.gov.ph
• ncws.gov.ph

—RF, GMA Integrated News