China’s embassy in Oslo denied on Thursday any involvement in a hacking attack on the Norwegian data and financial services firm Visma. It called the conclusions of an extensive investigation into the attack by both Norwegian and US experts “a cliché” that’s hardly worth responding to.
The embassy repeated earlier statements that Chinese authorities have never taken part in or supported others in stealing any form of commercial secrets. It also claimed that it’s been one of the world’s biggest victims of hacking attacks.
The Chinese further wrote in an email to NRK that the international community should engage in “dialogue and cooperation” in an effort to deal with threats against cyber security, in a spirit of mutual respect. It had earlier scoffed, however, at Norwegian police intelligence service PST’s warnings of cyber attacks backed by several nations including China, Russia and Iran, and possible risks of doing business with the Chinese company Huawei.