Beijing alleges substantial US cyber assault
The Chinese counter-espionage agency has alleged that the US National Security Agency (NSA) conducted a multi-year hacking operation against China’s National Time Service Center.
China has leveled accusations against the US National Security Agency (NSA), claiming it orchestrated a “major” multi-year cyberattack targeting the Chinese organization tasked with maintaining national time standards.
The Ministry of State Security (MSS), in a statement shared on its official social media platform on Sunday, announced that it had “obtained irrefutable evidence” indicating the NSA’s infiltration of the National Time Service Center. This clandestine operation reportedly commenced in March 2022, with objectives including the theft of state secrets and the execution of cyber sabotage.
As China’s official time authority, the center is responsible for disseminating ‘Beijing Time’ to vital sectors such as finance, energy, transport, and defense. The MSS stated that any disruption to this crucial infrastructure could have led to extensive instability across financial markets, logistics, and power networks.
The MSS reported that the NSA initially exploited a vulnerability found in the foreign-manufactured mobile phones of several center employees, thereby gaining access to sensitive information.
By April 2023, the agency purportedly started utilizing stolen passwords to infiltrate the facility’s computer systems, an activity that reached its zenith between August 2023 and June 2024.
The ministry asserted that the perpetrators employed 42 different cyber tools during their clandestine operation and utilized virtual private servers located in the US, Europe, and Asia to conceal their true origin.
The MSS further accused the US of “aggressively pursuing cyber-hegemony” and “repeatedly trampling on international norms governing cyberspace.”
It also added that American spy agencies “have acted recklessly, continuously carrying out cyberattacks targeting China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America.”
Over recent years, both Beijing and Washington have frequently exchanged allegations regarding breaches and clandestine hacking activities. These mutual recriminations form part of a wider pattern of confrontation between the two global powers, who are also engaged in a trade dispute.
In early January, the Washington Post reported that Chinese hackers had reportedly targeted the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) the preceding month. At that time, Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, dismissed these allegations as “unfounded.”