Shenzhen TV: On April 11, the China Cybersecurity Industry Alliance issued a report, disclosing over ten cases in which US intelligence agencies launched cyber attacks, carried out internet monitoring and espionage, and leaked and proliferated cyberattack weapons and tools since 2010. What is your comment on this?
Wang Wenbin: We have noted the report. The report provides a systematic account of the history and typical cases of cyber attacks undertaken by relevant departments of the US government and their negative impact on global cyber security and contains a full list of shocking revelations. I would like to share with you some of the cases from the report and hope this will give you a further idea about how the US jeopardizes global cyber security.
Case 1: In 2010, the US was found using the Stuxnet virus to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. This is the first case in history where a government launched cyber attacks against key infrastructure of other countries, opening the Pandora’s box of state-to-state cyberwarfare. In 2022, the US Cyber Command announced that it is their obligation to “own the domain”.
Case 2: The ransomware WannaCry that affected most countries and caused the most severe losses across the world in 2017 was the result of leaked cyber weapons from the US National Security Agency. Ironically, in 2021, the US put on an act by launching a so-called International Counter-Ransomware Initiative with dozens of countries.
Case 3: In 2013, PRISM revealed how the US engaged in cyber espionage across the world, including against China. The US even asked nine international internet giants, including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and Apple to cooperate with the US government to secretly monitor information. The program even invaded the network equipment of multiple countries including Germany and the ROK. On the other hand, since 2018, the US has been citing digital security as an excuse to suppress Chinese companies without providing any evidence, and it even coerced its allies who were also victims of US espionage to join the gang.
Case 4: In 2013, the media exposed that the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) uses its cryptography standards to install backdoors, which expands the targets of supply chain attacks from IT products to IT standards. On March 30, 2023, the US’s top diplomat said at the “Summit for Democracy” that the US is working with partners to establish as necessary rules and norms, so that technology is developed in ways that reflect what they call “democratic values and interests”.
Case 5: In 2015, the media disclosed the US government’s Project CAMBERDADA, which is aimed to intrude, divide and suppress foreign cybersecurity vendors and force them to dance to the tune of the US. As a result, few global cybersecurity vendors now choose to disclose cases of the US’s cyberattacks, and some US cybersecurity vendors have even become an accomplice of the US government’s disinformation campaign targeting other countries.
These cases show once again that the US is the origin of cyber warfare, the biggest spreader of advanced cyber weapons and the biggest global cyber thief. The so-called Clean Network and what the US calls “technology that reflects democratic values and interests” are just a pretext for it to unscrupulously conduct cyber thefts and attacks and ensure its supremacy. The US has been holding other countries to high standards, but clearly these standards mean little to the US itself. This is textbook double standards.
We would like to stress that safeguarding cybersecurity is a shared responsibility of all countries. Cyberspace is not a battle field or wrestling ground, still less should it be used as a tool to split the international community or contain and bring down other countries. It is in the international community’s common interest to end the US’s lawlessness on cyber theft and reveal its hypocrisy on cyber security.
Dragon TV: According to US media reports, some suspected classified Pentagon documents have been circulating on social media recently. These leaked documents indicate that the US government is deeply involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and has been spying on its allies. This is not the first time for scandals like this to be revealed. Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern recently said during an interview that “when you talk about the US allies, they are really US vassals.” Do you have any comment?
Wang Wenbin: We noted that many media outlets have pointed out that these leaked US military documents clearly show the deep involvement of the US in the Ukraine crisis. They also show once again that the US has long used its tech edge to conduct indiscriminate secret theft, surveillance and eavesdropping on countries in the world, including its allies. The US needs to give an explanation to the international community for this.
The top US diplomat said at the so-called “Summit for Democracy” that the US is working with partners to ensure that technology is developed and used in ways that reflect what they call “democratic values and interests”. Facts have proven once again that the so-called “democratic values” claimed by the US are nothing but a pretext and a tool for the US to seek selfish gains.