Recorded Future, a cybersecurity firm based in the United States, has claimed that RedDelta, a "Chinese state-sponsored" hacker group, targeted the Vatican's computer networks and other Catholic organizations months before the sensitive September talks on the appointment of bishops in churches across China
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th July, 2020) Recorded Future, a cybersecurity firm based in the United States, has claimed that RedDelta, a "Chinese state-sponsored" hacker group, targeted the Vatican's computer networks and other Catholic organizations months before the sensitive September talks on the appointment of bishops in churches across China.
"From early May 2020, The Vatican and the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong were among several Catholic Church-related organizations that were targeted by RedDelta, a Chinese-state sponsored threat activity group tracked by Insikt Group [the company's threat intelligence research arm]," Recorded Future said in a Tuesday press release.
According to the US firm, RedDelta was after information on the Vatican's position ahead of the September renewal of the 2018 China-Vatican provisional agreement, a deal that reportedly gave the Chinese government more control over the country's Catholic community and the appointment of bishops, while the Holy See kept the final say in the selections.
China has been insisting that the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, a division of the country's Religious Affairs Bureau, should be appointing bishops, while the Holy See believes that Pope Francis should have such right.
Moreover, the attack against the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong intended to reveal details about China's special administrative region's relations with the Vatican, and the Holy See's position on the recent protests in Hong Kong, Recorded Future added.
Beijing and the Vatican have had tense relations for decades, as the Vatican officially recognizes the independence of Taiwan, while China qualifies the island as its sovereign territory.
