The United States and its allies have formally accused China of cyber espionage. A recent attack on Microsoft's Exchange email server software compromised computers everywhere, allowing access to sensitive information.
NPR reports that the U.S. Department of Justice also indicted Chinese nationals officially sanctioned from Beijing to hack into U.S. government, businesses and universities between 2011-2018.
"These criminal charges once again highlight that China continues to use cyber-enabled attacks to steal what other countries make, in flagrant disregard of its bilateral and multilateral commitments," Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.
Chinese officials denied the allegations.
"China will absolutely not accept this," China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular news conference in Beijing on July 20. He also stated that the information provided by United States officials "do not constitute a complete chain of evidence."
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki also addressed the perception that President Joe Biden was not blaming the Chinese government.
"That was not the intention he was trying to project. He takes malicious cyber activity incredibly seriously" Psaki said. "We are not holding back, we are not allowing any economic circumstance or consideration to prevent us from taking actions … Also we reserve the option to take additional action."
A Biden Administration official also told NPR about concerns regarding China committing cyber crimes.
"The United States has long been concerned about the People's Republic of China's irresponsible and destabilizing behavior in cyberspace," the official said. "Their operations include criminal activities, such as cyber-enabled extortion, crypto-jacking and theft from victims around the world for financial gain. In some cases, we're aware of reports that PRC government-affiliated cyber operators have conducted ransomware operations against private companies that have included ransom demands of millions of dollars."
Reuters reports that sensitive data was retrieved from Austria, Cambodia, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States and in the following industries: aviation, defense, education, government, healthcare, biopharmaceutical and maritime industries.