Amnesty International’s Canadian affiliate reported on Monday that a cyberattack supported by China had targeted the organization.
The human rights organization claimed to have discovered the hack on October 5 and has since employed forensic analysts and cybersecurity specialists to look into it.
Amnesty International Canada’s Secretary General, Ketty Nivyabandi, claimed that searches made in their database were specifically and solely about China and Hong Kong, as well as a few well-known Chinese activists. The organization was offline as a result of the hack for almost three weeks.
The nature of the searches, the level of sophistication, and the use of particular tools that are distinctive of China-sponsored actors led U.S. cybersecurity firm Secureworks to conclude that the attack was likely carried out by “a threat group sponsored or tasked by the Chinese state” despite the lack of attempts to monetize the access.
In light of this, Nivyabandi urged journalists and activists to upgrade their cybersecurity procedures.
“As a group that promotes human rights around the world, we are well aware that we could be the target of state-sponsored efforts to obstruct or monitor our work. The safety and privacy of our activists, employees, donors, and stakeholders remain our top priority, and we will not be intimidated by these, said Nivyabandi.
Amnesty is one of the organizations that support journalists and human rights defenders who are under surveillance by governmental authorities. That includes confirming instances in which journalists and activists’ smartphones have been infected with Pegasus malware, which not only copies the data on the devices but also converts them into real-time listening devices.
Amnesty and the International Federation for Human Rights were among the groups that Chinese hackers were targeting in August, according to the cybersecurity company Recorded Future, through password-stealing methods created to gather credentials. Given the Chinese government’s “documented human rights abuses in relation to Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other ethnic and religious minority groups,” it was said to be especially concerning.
According to estimates from experts, Amnesty has expressed concern about a system of internment facilities in China that ensnared a million or more Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. The camps have been shut down, according to China, which portrays them as centers for education and vocational training aimed at preventing extremism. The number of people who passed through them has never been disclosed by the government.
A message seeking comment was not immediately answered by the Chinese embassy in Ottawa.
