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Vatican computer network penetrated by hackers, China suspected

2020-07-30T17:01:39.383Z


The computer network of the Holy See was allegedly compromised by hackers, before the renegotiation of a major agreement with China.


Habemus hackam. According to the American cybersecurity company Recorded Future, the Vatican was the victim of a cyberattack, carried out by Chinese hackers. Last May, an email appearing to contain a letter of condolence from the Pope was sent to a chaplain based in Hong Kong. As the New York Times reports, the attachment was actually a decoy that contained malware allowing hackers to gain access to the Holy See's computer network.

In its report, Recorded Future explains that it came to the conclusion that this attack was carried out by a group linked to the Chinese government, which it decided to name RedDelta, due to tactics similar to those of other operations of piracy attributed to China. In recent months, several investigations have shown that China has carried out cyber attacks against Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur Muslims, thereby seeking to increase its surveillance over religious minorities.

A pending deal

This computer intrusion took place as China and the Vatican are due to rule in September on the renewal of the agreement reached in 2018 concerning the appointment of the country's bishops. This agreement had eased tensions between the two countries, which had not maintained diplomatic relations for nearly 70 years. According to the report, the attack could also have been used to obtain information about the involvement of the Catholic Church in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

If the Vatican has not yet reacted to the report of the Recorded Future company, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Minister for his part assured that his country was not responsible for these attacks and that it was on the contrary, as a “ fervent defender ” of cybersecurity.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-07-30

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