Beijing tries to steal Moscow’s top secret data.
On 23 March, several scientists and engineers from Russian military institutes received emails from the Russian Ministry of Health entitled “List of people under US sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine”. The emails, however, had a different sender: to send them was in fact a group of hackers from China who wanted to try to convince the recipients to open and download the document containing a malware. The incident shows how China tries to spy on Russia and highlights the complicated relationship between the two countries that have united against the United States. Although Putin and Xi support each other to try to overturn the hegemony of the West, they cannot be considered as unbroken partners. Different interests and ways of seeing on many issues will put them in contrast even in the near future. Under Chinese authoritarian leader Xi Jinping, Beijing has improved its cyber espionage methods. With ambitions to become a global leader in advanced technologies such as robotics, medical devices and aviation, Xi has prioritized the development of China’s scientific and technical sectors. Government spies target intellectual property, as well as political and military intelligence around the world. Security researchers say many of the attacks from China appear to focus on data collection and intellectual property, rather than causing chaos or disruption that could affect conflicts with Ukraine or Russia.
