The U.K. and U.S. governments have announced sanctions against alleged Chinese hackers and the APT 31 threat group that was allegedly involved in hacking activities in both countries.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced today that it had sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Co. Ltd., an alleged China-based Ministry of State Security front company and two Chinese employees of the company — Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin. The office alleges they had roles in malicious cyber operations targeting U.S. entities that operate within U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, directly endangering national security.

In addition to the sanctions, the U.S. Department of Justice also indicted seven Chinese nationals, including Guangzong and Gaobin, on charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The indicted are alleged to have sent “over 10,000 malicious emails, impacting thousands of victims, across multiple continents” as part of a “prolific global hacking operation – backed by the PRC government – targeting journalists, political officials and companies to repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutions and steal trade secrets.”

Across the pond, the U.K. also announced that it had sanctioned a front company and two individuals who are allegedly members of APT 31 – Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd., Guangzong and Gaobin.

The U.K. alleges that APT 31 conducted reconnaissance activity against U.K. parliamentarians during a separate campaign in 2021 and that the group was behind the compromise of the U.K. Electoral Commission systems between 2021 and 2022.

“It is completely unacceptable that China state-affiliated organizations and individuals have targeted our democratic institutions and political processes,” Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said in a statement today. “While these attempts to interfere with U.K. democracy have not been successful, we will remain vigilant and resilient to the threats we face.”

APT 31 has allegedly been behind more attacks than those targeting the U.K. in recent years. Microsoft alleged that APT 31, which it calls Zirconium, was behind a campaign targeting President Biden’s campaign in 2020 and in 2022. APT 31 was observed by Google LLC’s Threat Analysis Group targeting Gmail accounts of users affiliated with the U.S. government.

The Chinese government denies any involvement, with a spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in the U.K. telling CNBC that the allegations were “completely fabricated and malicious slanders” and that “China has always firmly fought all forms of cyber-attacks according to law.”

Alex Rose, director of government partnerships at cybersecurity company Secureworks Inc.‘s Counter Threat Unit, told SiliconANGLE that “Chinese state-sponsored cyber espionage is not a new threat and the DOJ’s unsealed indictment today showcases the full gambit of their cyber operations in order to advance the People’s Republic of China agenda.”

“While this is not a new threat, the scope of the espionage and the tactics deployed are concerning,” Rose added. “The Chinese have evolved their typical MO in the last couple of years to evade detection and make it harder to attribute specific cyberattacks to them.”

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