US Hits China Firm for Cyberattack, Burma Firms for Bombings

US officials sanctioned a Chinese cybersecurity company on Tuesday over a cyberattack that the Treasury said could have killed people, along with two ‘Burmese’ firms accused of aiding the Myanmar military’s brutal bombing of civilians in areas near fighting across the country.

In a statement the US Treasury said that Sichuan Silence Information Technology, a company based in Chengdu, and one of its employees, Guan Tianfeng, deployed malicious software to more than 80,000 firewalls run by thousands of companies worldwide in April 2020.

The malicious software stole data and was used to deploy ransomware, which paralyzes corporate networks by encrypting data. The statement said three dozen firewalls were protecting systems of critical infrastructure companies and that, had the hacking not been thwarted or mitigated, the potential impact “could have resulted in serious injury or loss of human life.”

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It said that an energy company targeted by Sichuan Silence’s hacking campaign was “actively involved in drilling” during the attack. Had it not been thwarted, the statement said, “it could have caused oil rigs to malfunction.”

No further details about the incident were provided. Reuters could not immediately locate contact information for Guan.

Sichuan Silence has previously been accused of involvement in malicious digital activity. In 2021 Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms alleged that the firm was linked to an online influence campaign that promoted claims of a phony biologist who said the United States was interferring in the search for the origins of Covid-19.

Beijing routinely denies being a party to hacking and other malicious cyber activity.

The Department of State also announced a Rewards for Justice reward offer of up to $10 million for information about Sichuan Silence or Guan.

Burmese firms ‘aid bombing attacks’

The Burmese companies Sky Aviator Company Ltd and Synpex Shwe Company Ltd, were also added to the Entity List.

The Commerce Department said Sky Aviator and Syntax Shwe “supplied the Burmese military with parts and components that have enabled the military to carry out human rights violations, including brutal aerial attacks against the civilian population.”

Two China firms hit for rights violations

The US also added two Chinese companies to the trade restriction list on Tuesday for allegedly enabling human rights violations as President Biden kept up the pressure on Beijing in the waning days of his administration.

The Commerce Department, which oversees export policy, added Zhejiang Uniview Technologies Co Ltd to the Entity List, “because it enables human rights violations, including high-technology surveillance targeted at the general population, Uyghurs, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups,” the agency said in a filing.

And Beijing Zhongdun Security Technology Group was added for selling products that “enable China’s public security establishment to carry out human rights violations”.

Uniview did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing Zhongdun Security could not be reached for comment.

The US has in recent years used the Entity List to punish Chinese companies it accuses of aiding in China’s repression of Uyghur and other minority groups, such as video surveillance company Hikvision, which was listed in 2019.

Being added to the entity list forces American suppliers of the targeted company to get a difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to them. Six other entities in Russia and Myanmar were also added on Tuesday.