The Vatican and the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong have been targeted by suspected Chinese state-backed hackers ahead of talks over the renewal of a landmark 2018 deal that helped unfreeze diplomatic relations between the Vatican and China, according to a group of monitoring.
Alleged attacks by a group called RedDelta began in May with an eye toward the September talks to renew a tentative agreement on bishop appointments, according to a report Tuesday by the US-based Recorded Future, which tracks cyberattacks backed by the state. The attacks were first reported by the New York Times.
The Vatican had no immediate comment. The Chinese Foreign Ministry denied any involvement and called the report “unfounded speculation”.
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Recorded Future said the Hong Kong Study Mission to China, a key link between the Vatican and China, and the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions were also targeted.
“The suspicion of intrusion into the Vatican would offer RedDelta a glimpse of the Holy See’s negotiating position before the agreement was renewed in September 2020,” the report said. It could also provide “valuable intelligence” on the position of Hong Kong-based Catholic entities in the pro-democracy movement.
The attacks continued at least until July 21. They included an apparent phishing attempt with a letterhead document from the Vatican Secretariat of State addressed to the head of the Hong Kong Study Mission to China.
An estimated 12 million Catholics in China are divided between those who belong to the government-backed Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which is outside the authority of the Pope, and an underground church loyal to the Pope. Underground priests and parishioners are frequently detained and harassed.
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A landmark 2018 agreement between the Holy See and China on bishop nominations aimed to unite the herd, regularize the status of seven bishops who were not recognized by Rome, and unfreeze decades of estrangement between China and the Vatican.
But some of China’s underground worshipers have deep reservations about the deal, seeing it as a sale to the communist government and a betrayal of their long loyalty to the pope.
China routinely denies participating in a state-sponsored program to steal trade secrets or confidential government information via the Internet, and says it is one of the biggest victims of hacking attacks. The United States denies this and says it has tracked cyber intrusions to the Chinese military. Earlier this month, Washington accused two Chinese citizens of allegedly launching piracy attacks against companies in the United States and other countries.
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The Justice Department also said hackers working with the Chinese government targeted companies that develop coronavirus vaccines. China says Washington has not provided information to support the charges.
