Chinese targets Belgian computer networks

2 May 2008

BELGIUM – The Belgian intelligence service has discovered that there has been a series of attacks on important computers in Belgium.

Several newspapers this morning quote the Belgian Justice Minister Jo Vandeurzen as saying that all evidence points to electronic espionage by the Chinese.

The dailies Gazet van Antwerpen and De Tijd report that perpetrators send emails containing hidden software.

The software is used to collect information from the computer systems of the addressees.

It remains unclear exactly which computers have been targeted by the Chinese and if sensitive information has been stolen.

Vandeurzen says that everything points to an operation by the Chinese intelligence service, though he does not possess any sound proof at the minute.

Vandeurzen told the papers that this was difficult to check and that it was unclear whether the attacks had reached their targets.

The Chinese have been blamed for similar attacks on networks in The Netherlands and Germany.

Belgium is believed to have been targeted because the headquarters of the European Union and NATO are located here and because of Belgium’s track record in Africa.

In recent days, the Chinese have shown growing interest for this continent.

The Belgian watchdog, the Intelligence Committee, has already started an investigation.

[flandersenews.be / Expatica]