Paraguay prosecutor opens criminal case over alleged Chinese cyber espionage

Paraguay's Prosecutor General's Office has initiated a criminal case concerning alleged unauthorized access to the nation's state computer systems. This action comes after both the Paraguayan and U.S. governments reported suspected cyber infiltration by actors believed to be connected to China.

The investigation was ordered by Prosecutor General Emiliano Rolón in response to a complaint filed by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (Mitic). The Mitic's complaint details an alleged "undue access" to state data and computer systems. The U.S. and Paraguay had jointly announced the detection of "multiple threat actors" linked to China infiltrating the South American nation's state cyber systems during a recent joint cybersecurity review.

Pedro Martínez, Mitic's director general of cybersecurity, stated that "after a period of monitoring," the threats were concluded to be consistent with the typical activities of groups operating for the Chinese government. In response, China has rejected the accusations, claiming that Washington is using cybersecurity as a political pretext to discredit Beijing.

This is not the first such incident. In late September 2024, during another joint review, Washington and Asunción identified the China-based cyberespionage network Flax Typhoon infiltrating Paraguayan government systems. At the time, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña linked this incident to the country's ongoing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Paraguay remains the sole South American nation and one of only twelve countries worldwide to maintain official ties with Taiwan, an island self-governed and considered by Beijing as an "inalienable part" of Chinese territory.