By Tenzin Nyidon

DHARAMSHALA, Mar 27: The United States and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on individuals and groups allegedly involved in state-sponsored cyber espionage activities linked to Beijing. The operation, purportedly orchestrated by a division of China’s Ministry of State Security, targeted a wide range of individuals and entities critical of the Chinese government.

The US and the UK have identified a hacking group, known within the cyber security community as Advanced Persistent Threat 31 (APT 31), as responsible for the recent cyber espionage campaign targeting politicians, journalists, and critics of Beijing. According to Mandiant, an American cybersecurity firm and subsidiary of Google, there are over 40 APT groups, with more than 20 suspected to be operated by China. Mandiant’s research suggests that APT 31 operates under t...