OTTAWA—Canada is joining the United States and other allies in blaming China for a massive cyber attack that compromised tens of thousands of computers around the world earlier this year.
The attack saw hackers exploit weaknesses in Microsoft Exchange email servers, with an estimated 400,000 servers compromised by March.
In a statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan say authorities are confident that China’s Ministry of State Security was responsible for compromising the servers.
They go on to allege the attack was aimed at stealing intellectual property and personal information, and that one particular group that previously targeted Canada was among several Chinese entities involved.
China has previously denied any involvement.
Canada and its allies have been increasingly calling out China, Russia and other countries for alleged cyber attacks in an effort to rein in such activity.
