Beijing: China has been orchestrating cyber attacks on both allies and competitors, the Indo Pacific Centre for Strategic Communications (IPCSC) reported, adding that the countries affected include Russia, US, Iran and its latest target, South Korea.

According to the report, there are growing concerns on which countries will be targeted next.

Further, according to the report, a Chinese hacking group had launched a cyberattack on 12 Korean academic institutions.

Citing the Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA), the report said the attacked institutes included Korea Research Institute for Construction Policy, some departments of Jeju University and the Korea National University of Education. The affected websites remained inaccessible for four days.

The hackers, according to the report, had compromised the computer networks of 70 Korean educational institutions from January 21 to 24. The hacking group also threatened to disclose 54 gigabytes of data stolen from Korea's government and public institutions, stated the report by IPCSC, a dedicated think-tank based in India.

The IPCSC further quoted a Washington post report from March 2022 claiming that the same group linked to the Chinese government had attacked at least six governments in past 13 months, gathering huge data.

According to a report by Israeli-American cybersecurity firm Check Point, Chinese hackers sent emails with malware links to scientists and engineers at several of Russia's military research and development institutes on March 23, 2022 in order to purportedly obtain critical data on the country's security systems.

These attacks were orchestrated by China, which has refused to criticise Moscow and has echoed the Russian propaganda to depict the United States and NATO as aggressors in the conflict with Ukraine, according to the IPCSC report.

This attack by China on Russia from July 2021 targeted institutes that research airborne satellite communications, radar and electronic warfare, Check Point said in its report. The institutes belong to ROSTEC Corporation, the Russian military conglomerate which is one of Russia's largest and most powerful defence companies.

According the IPCSC report, a research by Google and cybersecurity company Proofpoint claimed that Chinese hackers have joined the fray of those targeting Russia over the Ukraine conflict and the associated refugee crisis.