The human rights organization says it is announcing the attack in order to make people aware of the dangers people are facing.
The Canadian office of the human rights group Amnesty International has said its English team is the target of an attempted “hack” it believes is linked to China.
The digital security breach first came to light on October 5 when suspicions were noticed about Amnesty’s IT security systems, Amnesty International Canada said on Monday.
It took immediate action to secure the system and investigate the source of the attack, it added.
“As a global human rights organization, we are acutely aware that we may be the target of government-sponsored attempts to disrupt or monitor our work. This does not scare us and the safety and privacy of our activists, staff, donors, and stakeholders are paramount. very important,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, Amnesty International Canada’s executive secretary.
The preliminary results of the investigation showed that the violations were carried out using tools and methods consistent with other persistent terrorist groups (APTs), Amnesty said.
Law enforcement experts and international cybersecurity company Secureworks later identified that “a Chinese-backed or sponsored threat group” may have been responsible for the attacks.
The conclusion of the investigation was based on “the nature of the information and the observed tools and practices, which are consistent with those associated with Chinese cyberespionage threat groups,” it added.
A report released in August by the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future said that a conspiracy group known as RedAlpha, which is believed to represent the Chinese government, has carried out espionage for years against many governments, think tanks, media organizations and non-governmental organizations. (NGOs). ), including Amnesty.
Last year, the United States, the United Kingdom and their allies accused the Chinese government of cyberattacks on Microsoft Exchange, and accused the Chinese government of “cyber crimes”.
Amnesty said it decided to go public with the attack as a warning to other human rights activists about the growing threat of digital security breaches in their work.
“This case of cyberespionage speaks to the growing dangers that human rights activists, journalists, and organizations alike must address today,” Nivyabandi said. “Our work to investigate and denounce this has never been more difficult and necessary. We will continue to highlight human rights violations wherever they occur and condemn the use of computer surveillance by governments to restrict human rights.”
Amnesty says no evidence has been found that any donor or member has been taken.
