Hacked EU communications reveal how concerned countries are about Trump

EU opens investigation into hack, which allegedly used techniques similar to those employed by China's People's Liberation Army

Thousands of hacked European Union diplomatic cables have revealed major concerns regarding the Trump administration’s unpredictability and the bloc's struggles with the rising influence of Russia and China.

The EU said that it is investigating the cyber hack, allegedly perpetrated by Chinese hackers.

“The Council Secretariat is aware of allegations regarding a potential leak of sensitive information and is actively investigating the issue,” a statement read.

The Secretariat declined to comment further on the information exhumed from the cables, but said it “takes the security of its facilities, including its IT systems, extremely seriously,” referring to the concerns that data systems across 28 EU states could be vulnerable from hackers.

The cables featured European diplomats describing their concerns and fears of the Trump administration and rival world leaders. In one of the cables, European diplomats called the Helsinki meeting between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin “successful (at least for Putin).”

In another cable, information from a detailed report and analysis from discussions between European officials and Chinese President Xi Jinping about Mr Trump’s bullying of Beijing, said he was “behaving as if it was fighting in a no-rules freestyle boxing match.”

Area 1, the cybersecurity firm that discovered the vulnerability and handed the documents to the New York Times, said that hackers were able to infiltrate European Union communication systems for years and copy thousands of diplomatic cables containing privileged information.

The firm supplied the newspaper with more than 1,100 hacked EU cables, but said that thousands more could have been taken.

The documents were discovered a few months ago after a malicious email was caught by the Area 1, according to company co-founder Blake Darche.

“We estimate that the ones we found are a small fraction of the overall operation,” he said. “From what we can see, the EU has a significant problem on their hands.”

The hacking tactic used to access diplomatic cables were “techniques resembling those long used by an elite unit of China’s People’s Liberation Army,” the New York Times reported.

Mr Darche said he believes the hackers are working for China's People's Liberation Army, a judgment he said was based on eight years spent observing the group.

In a statement to CNN, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that reports like those published by the Times are “suspicious, groundless,” and “extremely irresponsible.”

“China is itself a victim of cyberspying and cyberattacks, and China is a defender of cybersecurity,” the statement added. “China stands firmly against criminal hacking activities, and will pursue criminals it according to laws. If there is any evidence, relative departments will investigate.”