#Vatican reportedly hacked by China before religious freedom talks

Chinese hackers infiltrated the Vatican’s computer network in recent months, ahead of sensitive talks with Beijing over religious freedom, a cybersecurity firm has concluded.

The report by Massachusetts-based firm Recorded Future found that the hacking efforts were spearheaded by RedDelta, a state-sponsored Chinese group, and took place over months using malware designed to give hackers access to the Vatican’s email servers.

The attack comes as the Catholic Church and Beijing enter negotiations about the church’s status in China and as the Chinese Communist Party cracks down on religious groups.

Both the Vatican and the Holy See’s Study Mission to China, a group of Vatican diplomats based in Hong Kong, were targeted.

According to the report, one attack was contained in an emailed fake letter from the Vatican to the head of the Mission to China in Hong Kong. The letter, which purported to be on official Vatican stationary, contained malware giving the Chinese state access to the church’s email server, the report said.

“The suspected intrusion into the Vatican would offer RedDelta insight into the negotiating position of the Holy See ahead of the deal’s September 2020 renewal,” Recorded Future concluded.

“The targeting of the Hong Kong Study Mission and its Catholic Diocese could also provide a valuable intelligence source for both monitoring the diocese’s relations with the Vatican and its position on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement amidst widespread protests and the recent sweeping Hong Kong national security law.”

Negotiations are due to begin in September, renewing a deal reached in 2018 allowing both the Pope and Beijing officials to appoint bishops to Catholic churches in China.

But the Communist authoritarian government has shown intolerance toward religious freedom and the nation’s 12 million Catholics are considered a minority group. Chinese officials have ordered thousands of crosses to be torn down from churches.

The Chinese government has also detained Uighur Muslims and forced them into labor camps, sparking calls for sanctions from the US.