Bangkok. China has strongly criticized the US Treasury's decision to sanction a Beijing-based cybersecurity firm over its alleged involvement in multiple hacking incidents targeting critical US infrastructure. Meanwhile, China's cybersecurity agency raised concerns Monday about ongoing attacks on Chinese networks.

In response to the sanctions against Integrity Technology Group, a Beijing-based company, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun stated that China has been cracking down on cyberattacks and accused the US of using the issue to "defame and smear China."

"For some time, the US has been exaggerating so-called Chinese cyberattacks and even imposed illegal unilateral sanctions against China," Guo said. "China firmly opposes this and will take necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests."

Integrity Technology Group, also known as Yongxin Zhicheng Technology Group, rejected the US sanctions, calling them "without factual basis." In a statement issued Monday to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the company strongly condemned the US Treasury Department’s "unwarranted accusations and illegal unilateral sanctions."

Meanwhile, the China National Cyber Security Information Center reported discovering cyberattacks from various foreign IP addresses, including those in California, Florida, the Netherlands, Singapore, Mexico, Turkey, and Vietnam. These attacks, which involved Trojan programs, botnets, phishing, intellectual property theft, and privacy violations, posed a significant threat to China's domestic networks and internet users, the center said in a WeChat notice.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Integrity Technology on Friday, blocking access to US assets and preventing the company from conducting business with American entities. The sanctions were linked to multiple hacks, including those attributed to "Flax Typhoon," a Chinese state-sponsored campaign targeting US critical infrastructure.

These sanctions were not related to a separate breach in which Chinese hackers remotely accessed several Treasury Department workstations and unclassified documents. The breach was discovered on Dec. 8 after a third-party software provider, BeyondTrust, flagged the theft of a key used to secure a cloud-based service providing remote technical support.

US officials are still dealing with the fallout from a major Chinese cyber espionage campaign known as "Salt Typhoon." This campaign reportedly allowed Beijing to access private communications, including text messages and phone calls, of an unknown number of Americans. Last month, US officials confirmed that at least eight telecommunications companies and several countries had been affected by Salt Typhoon.

Integrity Technology, however, maintained that the sanctions would not impact its business, as the company does not operate in the U.S. and has no assets there. The company also stated that it complies with all relevant laws and regulations, emphasizing its commitment to providing global security solutions.

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