The cyber-espionage campaign that Chinese hackers are reported to be carrying out by targeting the Indian power grid near the disputed India-China border in Ladakh is a reason for concern. According to 'Recorded Future', a private US cybersecurity threat analysis firm, a group of Chinese hackers, which goes by the name ‘RedEcho’, targeted several vital nodes in India’s electricity distribution system in an apparent espionage campaign between August 2021 and March 2022. The group reportedly used the Trojan malware ShadowPad, which is used by China’s People Liberation Army and Ministry of State Security Group. Consequently, the sustained hacking of the Indian power grid is believed to be a Chinese state-sponsored campaign. While Chinese government officials have dismissed the reports, India’s Power Minister R K Singh confirmed that “probing attacks” by China were indeed made in the months of December, January and February. He went on to say that India’s defences against such attacks are “strong.”
This time around the hackers may not have been able to do much damage. But past experience shows that Chinese hacking into India’s systems is neither benign nor has India always been able to fend off the attacks successfully in the past. In 2020, military tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh began soaring when PLA soldiers entered and occupied territory on the Indian side of the LAC at several points. Parallel to the military intrusions, China began flooding India’s power control systems that manage electrical supply across the country with deadly malware. A massive power outage followed in October that year.
The power outage forced the shutdown of Mumbai’s local trains and its stock exchange. India was then battling its first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and hospitals had to switch to generators to keep alive thousands of people who were hooked onto the ventilators. Chinese hackers were able to paralyse life in India’s commercial capital. Reports of Chinese hacking in recent months indicate that Beijing’s targeting of India continues unabated. India must remain alert as Chinese hackers could be pre-positioning malware for a future deadly attack on Indian systems. During his recent visit to New Delhi, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi waxed eloquent on the need for the two countries to view the other’s development with a “win-win mentality” and called on India to work with China “in the multilateral process with a cooperative posture.” How can India take Wang’s words seriously and co-operate with China when Beijing is quietly sabotaging India? If China wants to build a peaceful relationship with India, its actions must reflect its words.