Cyber Attacks From China Reportedly Targeted Telegram During Recent Hong Kong Protest

An encrypted messaging app said Thursday that it was hit by a powerful cyberattack from China as a major protest unfolded in Hong Kong. 

attack on Telegram app, which slowed connectivity but did t compromise user data, came as thousands surrounded Hong Kong government hequarters on Wednesday to protest legislation that would allow people to be extrited to mainland China to stand trial. y protesters were forcibly dispersed by police using tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. y did t assemble again on Thursday and debate over legislation was delayed. 

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov tweeted that most of attackers h IP dresses from China. 

“Historically, all state actor-sized (attacks) we experienced coincided in time with protests in Hong Kong,” Durov said. “This case was t an exception.” 

Activists in both Hong Kong and mainland China often use Telegram to organize protests in hopes encryption will allow m to eve government surveillance of Chinese social networking apps such as WeChat. 

Whereas WeChat users reported this week that photos of protests could t be viewed, apps like Telegram offer more privacy and independence. Telegram is blocked in mainland China, but users can access it using software to circumvent firewall, which also blocks apps and websites ranging from Facebook to New York Times. 

Encrypted messaging apps such as Telegram say that messs sent on ir systems cant be decoded by third parties during delivery from sender to recipient. “We can ensure that single government or block of like-minded countries can intrude on people’s privacy and freedom of expression,” Telegram says on its website. 

Telegram said that latest attack was a distributed denial of service in which “your servers get GZILLIONS of garb requests which stop m from processing legitimate requests.” 

messaging app said on Wednesday evening that system h stabilized. 

protest in Hong Kong forced legislature to cancel its sessions Wednesday and Thursday, putting off debate on extrition legislation. 

Opponents say bill would severely compromise ir freedoms and erode Hong Kong’s legal independence. Hong Kong leer Carrie Lam maintains legislation is necessary and would have safeguards to ensure human rights are protected. 

Hong Kong, a semi-automous Chinese territory, enjoys greater freedoms than mainland China under a “one country, two systems” framework put in place when former British colony was returned to China in 1997. Hong Kong residents can freely surf Internet and participate in public protests, unlike in mainland. 

U.S. government has complained for years about data breaches by China to steal high-tech information and or tre secrets — a key factor in current tre dispute between China and United States. Pentagon leers told a congressional committee this month that cyberattacks from China are increasingly sophisticated. 

When asked about Telegram issue at a daily news briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was t aware of case but that “China always opposes any form of cyberattack.” 

“China is also a victim of cyberattacks,” Geng said. 

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