Canada targeted by same Chinese hackers the U.S., U.K. accuse of cyberespionage that hit millions

Canada's electronic intelligence agency says the same hacking group that the U.K.and the U.S.haveaccused of a widespreadcyberespionage campaign tied to Beijing has also targeted Canada.

U.S. and British officials on Monday imposed sanctions, filed charges and accused China's government of involvement in the cyberattacks that hit millions of people including lawmakers,journalists, academics and defence contractors.

Authorities on both sides of the Atlantic call the hacking group that is allegedly involved Advanced Persistent Threat 31 or APT31.The U.K. and U.S.allege that the group isan arm of China's Ministry of State Security.

The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) the agency responsible for foreign signals intelligence, cyber operationsand cyber security confirmed that APT31 also targeted Canada.

"The Cyber Centre generally does not comment on specific cyber security incidents, however, we can confirm that we have seen malicious activity by this same threat actor targeting Canada," said CSE spokesperson Nayeli Sosa in a statement to CBC News.

CBC News askedCSEto disclosewhen Canada was targeted, how many people were hitand what the impact was. CSEresponded Wednesday night.

"Unfortunately, we are unable to provide any additional details," the CSE said in a media statement.

"We can, however, assure Canadians that the Cyber Centre uses a variety of advanced capabilities to detect and mitigate malicious cyber activity on government networks, systems, and infrastructure.

"If we find malicious activity, we take action to stop it, such as directing our network sensors to block it automatically."

CSE said it then warnsthegovernment and critical infrastructure IT leaders by issuing confidential notices with"mitigation advice and guidance."

CanadianPublic Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Tuesday he was part of a Five Eyes meeting Monday nightthat included the U.S.secretary for Homeland Security and British home secretary. The Five Eyes is an intelligence sharing network made up of the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

LeBlanc said no country is immune to threats of cyberattacks.

"We continue to work as a group of Five Eyes countries in terms of building up the resilience for critical infrastructure," he said.

"China is certainly one of the threat actors in this area but they're not alone. There are other countries that are active in this spaces well."

LeBlanc said one of the best moves Canada can make is to "invest in the best cyber defence possible" and share what it haslearned with its Five Eye allies.

CSE said theCanadian Centre for Cyber Security also publishes cyber alerts thatdetailongoing threats when possible, but did not do so in this case.

CBC News asked Global Affairs Canada if it'sconsidering sanctions in line with the UK and U.S. Thedepartment would only say on Thursday it's "judicious in its approach to imposing sanctions and committed to their effective and coordinated use when appropriate."

Listen | Inside the secretive agency defendingCanada against foreign interference:

The House17:53Inside Canadas secretive cyber-spy agency

The Communications Security Establishment is Canadas cyber-security organization. It intercepts and decodes intelligence, protects Canada from hacking and can even strike back against cyberattacks. In her first-ever interview as head of the CSE, Caroline Xavier discusses her agencys efforts to defend Canada.

The aim of the global hacking operation was to "repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutionsand steal trade secrets," Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.

Thetargets included U.S. senators, White House staffers, British parliamentariansand government officials who have criticizedChina's government, U.S. and U.K. officials said. Spouses of senior U.S. officials and lawmakers were also targeted, the officials said.

American officials said that thehackers' decade-plus spying spree compromisedavariety of U.S.companies,including American steel, energyand apparel firms. Among the targets were leading providers of 5G mobile telephone equipment and wireless technology.

In an indictment unsealed on Monday against seven of the alleged Chinesehackers, U.S. prosecutors in court said the hacking resulted in the confirmed or potential compromise of work accounts, personal emails, online storage and telephone call records belonging to millions of Americans.

Britain and U.S. impose sanctions

Officials in London accused APT31 ofhacking British lawmakers critical of Chinaand said that a second group of Chinese spies was behind the hack of Britain's electoral watchdog that separately compromised the data of millions more people in the United Kingdom.

Chinese diplomats in Britain and the U.S. dismissed the allegations as unwarranted. The Chinese Embassy in London called the charges "completely fabricated and malicious slanders."

Both Britain and the U.S. imposed sanctions on a firm they said was a Ministry of State Security front company tied to the alleged malicious hacking.

The sanctions are on Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology, as well as on two Chinese nationals, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.

"Today's announcement exposes China's continuous and brash efforts to undermine our nation's cybersecurity and target Americans and our innovation," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

An independent inquiry into foreign electoral interference in Ottawa resumes Tuesday.

The commission is investigating allegations China, Russia and other countries meddled in the past two federal elections and how information about foreign influence flowed within the government.

The commission will hear from diaspora community groups that say foreign actors have been preying on them.