The US has become the major threat in the cyber security area in the world, a senior Chinese official said on Wednesday.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that based on the disclosed materials published by media, network agencies from Five Eyes countries and a few European countries have assisted and participated in the US' internet secret stealing operations around the world. This shows that the US is creating an "internet secret theft axis" led by the US, Wang said.

The Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising the US, the UK, Canada,  Australia and New Zealand. 

Wang was asked to comment on a recent report by domestic information security media anzerclub.com, which noted that the Office of Tailored Access Operations (TAO), a department under the US' National Security Agency (NSA), had repeatedly conducted indiscriminate secret data stealing operations among global internet users.

Since 2011, the NSA has organized and conducted at least 231 cyber-attack operations. The major targets of the online attacks include China, Russia and Iran, the media report said. 

The report also noted that a US department in charge of internet surveillance has applied the NSA's cyber monitoring abilities to developing open source internet software and hardware. Most of those cyber attacking tools have been handed over to the US and other Five Eyes countries.

Wang noted the report's revelation that the NSA has organized research of special cyber-attack tools for products developed by US internet giants like Apple and Cisco, and that the research process was participated by relevant internet giants. He said that this coincides with findings of China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center that the world's crucial information infrastructure is very likely to be inserted various backdoor programs and become the target of the US' cyber-attacks. 

"It can be seen that the real intention of the US' crackdown on Chinese technology companies under the guise of national security is to create convenience for US' irresponsible secret cyber-stealing activities," Wang said.

The US has repeatedly placed Chinese companies on its “entity list”, which restricts the US companies' supplies to Chinese firms, under the guise of national security. Companies that face such crackdown include Huawei and China Mobile International.

Wang urged the US to immediately stop its malicious internet operations targeting countries around the globe, and adopt a more responsible attitude in cyberspace. 

Global Times