The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica rejected accusations that actors linked to the country carried out cyber espionage against the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). Costa Rican officials announced the breach on March 12 during a press conference. The incident involved extraction of nine gigabytes of data from internal email accounts at the state utility.
Minister Paula Bogantes Zamora said the threat actor specializes in the telecommunications sector and has ties to cyber espionage activities in 42 countries. Officials attribute possible origins to China. ICE Executive President Marco Acuña Mora confirmed that the attack did not affect electricity or telecommunications services provided to our country. Sensitive customer information remained protected. The institute filed a criminal complaint and collaborated with national authorities and the United States government on the investigation.
The Chinese embassy expressed deep surprise and disappointment at the unfounded accusations by certain Costa Rican officials. It rejected those claims categorically. The embassy stated that China has not received any request for assistance or evidence from the Costa Rican government. It added that China has no interest in the data of Costa Rica and opposes all forms of cyberattacks.
The statement warned that sacrificing relations between China and Costa Rica to please other countries does not gain respect.
