New Zealand says China was behind 2021 cyberattack on parliament

The Government Communications Security Bureau said analysis of the attack found Advanced Persistent Threat 40, a Chinese state-sponsored organization, was responsible.

"In August 2021, the Government Communications Security Bureau's (GCSB) National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) became aware of malicious cyber activity affecting the Parliamentary Council Office (PCO) and the Parliamentary Service," the GCSB said in a press release Tuesday.

"The NCSC provided extensive support to the victim organizations to reduce the impact of the compromise and delivered to other organizations potentially at risk by association," said GCSB Director-General Andrew Clark.

According to Clark, news of the cyberattack was kept private until the potential security vulnerability were fixed.

The security services did not specify exactly which data was compromised.

"These networks contain important information that enables the effective operation of New Zealand government," said GCSB Minister Judith Collins.

Collins said the security services were conducting a safety review.

The Chinese government denied the accusation.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in New Zealand accused the government of making "groundless and irresponsible accusations."

"We have never, nor will we in the future, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries," the embassy spokesperson said.

On Monday, British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told MPs that Chinese-backed entities were behind 2021 cyberattacks against the Electoral Commission.