China reportedly behind F5 cyberattack

Chinese state-sponsored threat actors were said to have perpetrated a cyberattack against U.S. cybersecurity firm F5 after the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned of ongoing nation-state intrusions exploiting F5 security vulnerabilities aimed at federal networks, according to Reuters.

F5 has had its network infiltrated by Chinese hackers for over a year, noted a pair of individuals briefed on the probe into the F5 breach. Such allegations of Chinese state-backed hacking have not been acknowledged by either F5 or CISA, with Acting CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala only emphasizing the potentially "catastrophic compromise of critical systems" that could arise from the incident. However, China has vehemently denied the accusations.

"China consistently opposes and combats hacking activities in accordance with the law, and we are even more opposed to the dissemination of false information for political purposes," said Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.