The EU Council of Ministers decided to sanction two Chinese companies, Integrity Technology Group and Anxun Information Technology, along with the Iranian company Emennet Pasargad, according to reports. The sanctions involve freezing assets in the EU, prohibiting EU citizens and companies from doing business with the listed actors, and imposing travel bans within the EU on two individuals, who are co-founders of Anxun. According to the EU, Integrity Technology Group and Anxun Information Technology have supplied technology and services used to hack over 65,000 devices in six EU countries between 2022 and 2023 and targeted attacks on critical infrastructure, though the specific countries and infrastructure affected have not been disclosed.
The EU also alleges that Emennet Pasargad stole a French subscriber database and attempted to sell the information on the darknet, and is linked to disinformation campaigns during the Paris 2024 Olympics and to an attack on a Swedish SMS service, the nature and impact of which remain unclear. This action comes amid rising cyber threats, with most companies depending on networks and information systems to function, making them attractive targets for state-supported actors and criminals whose methods can disrupt supply chains or halt entire operations. The EU is tightening laws due to the long-term societal consequences of cyberattacks, such as disruptions to food deliveries from logistics company breaches or government system outages from cloud service provider attacks, though the specific new regulations and their effective dates are unknown.
Cyberattacks are increasing rapidly, according to reports.