Singapore has said it was facing a serious cyber attack on its critical infrastructures by an espionage group that experts believe is linked to China.

Singapore's Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam named the attacker on Friday and said it is associated with a state-linked advanced persistent threat (APT) actor.

Shanmugam disclosed that the UNC3886 group was behind the attack.

“UNC3886 poses a serious threat to us, and has the potential to undermine our national security,” Shanmugam was quoted as saying by The Straits Times at the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore’s (CSA) 10th anniversary dinner at Sands Expo and Convention Centre.

“Even as we speak, UNC3886 is attacking our critical infrastructure right now," he said.

The Google Cloud website has described the group as a China-nexus cyber espionage actor.

It has targeted prominent strategic organisations on a global scale. 

China responds to the development

Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in Singapore voiced its dissatisfaction over linking UNC3886 to China.

"The Chinese government expresses its strong dissatisfaction with this and opposes any groundless smears and accusations against China," the Embassy said in a statement on Facebook.

"In fact, China is a major victim of cyberattacks. The Embassy would like to reiterate that China is firmly against and cracks down all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with law," the statement said.

The Embassy said China does not encourage, support or condone hacking activities.

"Keeping the cyberspace safe is a global challenge and China stands ready to work with Singapore and the rest of the world to jointly protect cybersecurity," it said.