The United States has decided to impose consequences on malicious Chinese cyber actors for their irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said on Monday.

Blinken alleged that the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) Ministry of State Security exploited the vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server in a massive cyber-espionage operation that compromised thousands of computers and networks.

Blinken’s comments came after the US and its allies condemned the alleged malicious Chinese cyber activity and accused the PRC of criminal extortion, issuing ransom demands to private firms. The US, the European Union, Australia, Canada, Japan, Britain and NATO were united against the Chinese cybersecurity threat, an official was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

Over 300 per cent rise in cyberattack funding over 2019

The US-led alliance was slated to unveil 50 “tactics, techniques and procedures Chinese state-sponsored cyber actors use.” “We have raised our concerns about both the Microsoft incident, and the PRC broader malicious cyber activity with senior PRC government officials,” a US official was quoted as saying by AFP.

According to the US Department of Homeland Security, $350 million was paid to malicious cyber actors last year, an increase of over 300 per cent against 2019.

According to an AFP report,  a major US pipeline, a meat processor and the software firm Kaseya were affected by a prominent ransomware strike earlier this year. The US officials have alleged that the strikes originated in Russia. While the US government has not made any comments on the involvement of the Russian state in the attacks, Russia has also denied responsibility for the same.