The Canadian branch of Amnesty International is reporting that they have been target of a cyberattack originating in China, CBC reports. They indicate that the intrusion began on October 5th and targeted Amnesty International’s list of contacts. UK-based cybersecurity firm SecureWorks are confident that the source of the attack was a group affiliated with the Chinese government.
According to Ketty Nivyabandi, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, this attack is meant as a warning to other human rights groups, in light of recent Amnesty International protests in support of China’s Uyghur population.
Canadian-based Citizen Lab, an internet watchdog group, published a major study in 2016 that showed it and other civil society organizations have been penetrated by cyberspies, many of them linked to China.
