China accuses U.S. of 'advanced' cyberattacks
By: Laurie Chen
Farah Master
and Liz Lee
Reuters
BEIJING - China accused the U.S. National Security Agency on April 15 [2025] launching "advanced" cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February, [2025] targeting essential industries.
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Police in the northeastern city of Harbin named three alleged NSA agents to a wanted list and also accused two U.S. universities of being involved in the attacks after carrying out investigations, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua on April 15. [2025]
..... The NSA agents were found to have "repeatedly carried out cyberattacks on China's critical information infrastructure and participated in cyberattacks on Huawei and other enterprises."
..... It did not specify how the two American universities were involved.
..... The U.S. embassy in China did not
respond to an emailed request for comment.
..... China's foreign ministry later confirmed the attacks and said Beijing had raised its concerns with the United States.
..... "We urge the U.S. to take a responsible attitude on the issue of cybersecurity and ... stop unprovoked smears and attacks on China," ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular news briefing.
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The allegations come as the world's two largest economies spiral deeper into a trade war that has already spurred travel warnings for Chinese tourists going to the United States and halted imports of U.S. films into China.
..... "The U.S. National Security Agency launched cyberattacks against important industries such as energy, transportation, water conservancy, communications, and national defense research institutions in Heilongjiang province," Xinhua said, city the Harbin city public security bureau.
..... The attack has "the intention of sabotaging China's critical information infrastructure, causing social disorder, and stealing important confidential information," it added.
..... Xinhua said the NSA operations took place during the Winter Games and were "suspected of activating specific pre-installed back-doors: in Microsoft Windows operation systems on specific devices in Heilongjiang.
..... In order to cover its tracks, the NSA purchased IP addresses in different countries and "anonymously" rented a large number of network servers including in Europe and Asia, Xinhua said.
..... The NSA intended to use cyberattacks to steal the personal data of participating athletes, the news agency said, adding that the cyberattacks reached a peak from the first ice hockey game on February 3. [2025] the attacks targeted information systems such as the Asian Winter Games registration system and stored "sensitive information about the identities of relevant personnel of the event," Xinhua said.
..... The United States routinely accuses Chinese state-backed hackers of launching attacks against its critical infrastructure and government bodies.
..... Last month, [03/2025] Washington announced indictments against a slew of alleged Chinese hackers who targeted the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the foreign ministries of Taiwan, South Korea, India and Indonesia.
..... Beijing denies all involvement in overseas cyber espionage.