Chinese security warns citizens of hacking group

China’s national security ministry announced on Monday that a Taiwanese hacking group named Anonymous 64 has been launching cyberattacks on targets in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The ministry urged citizens to report instances of “anti-propaganda sabotage.”

Since the beginning of this year, Anonymous 64—which the ministry said belonged to Taiwan’s cyber warfare wing—has sought to upload and broadcast “content that denigrates the mainland’s political system and major policies” on websites, outdoor screens and network TV stations, it said in a blog post.

Taiwan frequently accuses Chinese groups of seeking to spread online disinformation or carry out cyberattacks across the democratically governed island. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims.

The hacking group’s X account said it was set up in June 2023 and showed screenshots of efforts to broadcast videos likening Chinese President Xi Jinping to an emperor, marking the second anniversary of protests against Beijing’s strict COVID curbs and commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

One video was an address from an Anonymous 64 member wearing the Anonymous hacking group’s Guy Fawkes mask in the style of the graphic novel and film V for Vendetta.

Neither the X site nor the blog post from China’s national security ministry said whether Anonymous 64 had any affiliation with the international hacking group.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council had no immediate comment.

REUTERS