China has denied being responsible for a massive hack of Microsoft servers after it was accused in a rare joint statement by the US, UK, EU, Australia, NATO and others.
Chinese diplomats branded the allegation 'groundless and irresponsible' while dubbing Washington 'the world champion of malicious cyber attacks'.
Joe Biden compared the hack to attacks emanating from Russia, saying that Beijing may not be directly responsible but is protecting those who are.
Biden added that US intelligence is carrying out an investigation into the hack, which affected at least 30,000 businesses, and may take action once it is completed.
China has denied being responsible for a massive hack of Microsoft servers earlier this year that affected at least 30,000 organisations worldwide (file image)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the attack on Microsoft Exchange, a top email server for corporations around the world, was part of a 'pattern of irresponsible, disruptive and destabilizing behavior in cyberspace, which poses a major threat to our economic and national security.'
China's Ministry of State Security, or MSS, 'has fostered an ecosystem of criminal contract hackers who carry out both state-sponsored activities and cybercrime for their own financial gain,' Blinken said in a statement.
In a simultaneous announcement, the US Department of Justice said four Chinese nationals had been charged with hacking the computers of dozens of companies, universities and government bodies between 2011 and 2018.
The statement also singled out a hack of Microsoft Exchange servers that began in January this year and affected at least 30,000 organisations worldwide.
A group known as Hafnium is believed to have identified a weakness in the servers in January, and begun inserting 'backdoors' into systems using them which they could return to later, the BBC reported.
The operation targeted defence contractors, think tanks and universities, and appears to have initially been aimed at surveilliance and covert data-gathering.
But in February the operation massively expanded into a 'smash and grab' raid on the servers after several other hacking groups piled in.
It is thought Hafnium became aware that Microsoft had identified the vulnerability they were exploiting and planned to close it, prompting them to share its existence and causing the pile-on.
Joe Biden said China (President Xi Jinping, right) may not be directly responsible for the hacks but, like Russia, is harbouring those who are carrying them out
Pointing to the indictment, Blinken said the United States 'will impose consequences on (Chinese) malicious cyber actors for their irresponsible behavior in cyberspace.'
In a step the Biden administration hailed as unprecedented, the United States coordinated its statement Monday with allies - the European Union, Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and NATO.
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