China accuses US of using 'national security' as pretext to maintain cyberspace hegemony

China has labelled the United States the “biggest threat to global cybersecurity," accusing it of using national security as a pretext to keep its “hegemony in cyberspace” intact. The remarks were made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning in response to the latest White House executive order that cracks down on the use of spy technology.

Ning said that the order would be of no use to alter the fact that the US is the “biggest threat" to cybersecurity across the globe which still targets foreign states and companies “under the pretexts of national security and human rights without any evidence." Beijing said that Washington “knowingly abuses technology” for espionage and other malicious purposes, according to RT.

“The US government, in an attempt to maintain its hegemony in cyberspace, knowingly abuses technology for cyber surveillance and theft of secrets,” Ning told the press on Friday, exhorting the US to “stop its global hacking operations.” The Chinese spokesperson's remarks come on the heels of US President Joe Biden's new executive order that seeks a ban on “commercial spyware that poses risks to national security or has been misused by foreign actors."

US government's shady deal with Israeli firm comes to the fore

During the briefing, a reporter also noted that the Biden administration's move was a sharp juxtaposition to its previous work with the Israeli cyber surveillance firm NSO Group. Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that the US government struck a "secret" deal with the company through a front organisation two years ago.

The contract permitted officials to use the firm's ‘Landmark’ geolocation tool to secretly monitor “thousands” of cellular device users across Mexico. Furthermore, the contract “allows for Landmark to be used against mobile numbers in the United States,” although the outlet noted that it was unable to gather any evidence on it.