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Inside China Tech: US hackers responsible for more than half of all foreign cyberattacks in China

  • More than half of computer malware attacks in China from overseas entities last year originated in the US, according to a report
  • US sanctions on Huawei may cut short the telecommunications giant’s reign as the world’s No 1 smartphone vendor

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From a total of more than 62 million computer malware attacks captured by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team (CNCERT), around 53.5 per cent of foreign attacks were from the US. Photo: Shutterstock

Good morning, this is Melissa Zhu from SCMP’s tech desk in Hong Kong with our weekly summary of our top stories.

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First up: more than half of computer malware attacks in China from overseas entities last year originated in the US, according to data from a government-affiliated cybersecurity team.

From a total of more than 62 million computer malware attacks captured by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team (CNCERT), around 53.5 per cent of foreign attacks were from the US, lower than a year before when there were in excess of 100 million incidents, the team said.

Russia and Canada were the second and third largest contributors to computer malware attacks against China, accounting for 2.9 and 2.6 per cent respectively of the total number of foreign attacks.

CNCERT, which issued a cybersecurity report on Tuesday, describes itself officially as a “non-governmental non-profit” agency but a 2019 job post on their website said it sits “directly under the Cyberspace Administration of China”, the nation's top internet watchdog.

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US indicts Chinese men for hacking related to coronavirus vaccine data and defence secrets

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The report comes at a time when cybersecurity is rising up the international agenda amid escalating tech and trade tensions between the US and China.

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