‘Chinese cyberspies’ hack international court's website to fish for enemies in South China Sea dispute
The hacking incident happened in July as the Philippines challenged China’s claim to more than 80 per cent of the South China Sea in Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague
In the middle of a weeklong hearing on a South China Sea territorial dispute, the website of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague went offline – reportedly infected with malware by someone in China.
Whenever you see island-dispute issues flare up you also see cyberactivities spike as well
The incident happened in July as the Philippines challenged China’s claim to more than 80 per cent of the South China Sea – an assertion that Manila said encroached on its exclusive economic zone.
Based on an analysis of the software and infrastructure used, the site was infected with malware by someone in China, according to ThreatConnect, a US security company. China did not take part in the Hague hearing.
Alongside the increased presence of coastguard and military ships and planes, cyberespionage is emerging as a new front in the wrangling over the South China Sea – an artery for global trade that straddles the Indian and Pacific oceans.
China regularly uses its coastguard and even fishing vessels to warn away the boats of other countries.
Infographic: the scale of South China Sea reclamation projects
The disputes have pulled in the US, which patrols the waters in the name of navigational freedom; most recently it has reportedly been considering sailing warships into the 12-nautical-mile exclusion zone around the islands that China is building.