China has accused the United States National Security Agency (NSA) of carrying out cyber attacks during the Asian Winter Games, against key industries and government research institutions in Heilongjiang province. Authorities in Harbin mentioned that they discovered the attack while investigating network breaches that allegedly tried to sabotage China’s critical information infrastructure.
According to a report by the Xinhua news outlet, local police have listed three NSA agents it said were allegedly culpable in the development. According to the report, Kathryn A. Wilson, Robert J. Snelling, and Stephen W. Johnson were allegedly named as suspects. The report noted that these individuals attacked China’s essential information networks repeatedly. It also said they were also involved in hacking Huawei and other companies.
China accuses the United States of sabotage
Police also mentioned that the University of California and Virginia Tech were also involved, accusing them of taking part, but refused to clarify how they were involved. “The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) launched cyber attacks against important industries such as energy, transportation, water conservancy, communications, and national defense research institutions in Heilongjiang province,” the report said. It mentioned that the attacks were made to create social disorder and steal critical information.
According to investigators, the alleged actions of the NSA peaked during the Winter Games, which happened in February, noting that they suspected that they activated specific pre-installed backdoors” in Microsoft Windows systems on selected devices in Heilongjiang. The report mentioned that the attackers tried to conceal their origins by purchasing IP addresses in various countries and renting a large number of network servers across Europe and Asia anonymously.
Officials say the cyberattacks targeted the Asian Winter Games registration network, obtaining “sensitive information about the identities of relevant personnel of the event.” Xinhua alleges the NSA aimed to use the stolen data for unauthorized activities linked to competition participants. Police also claim the agency’s repeated strikes on Chinese entities were part of a broader strategy to undermine domestic security and collect confidential data.
Beijing denies involvement in overseas cyber attacks
Beijing has denied any involvement in overseas cyber espionage. In the last two years, Chinese organizations and state agencies have been accusing the United States and other allies of similar cyber activities. The detailed report is coming after statements from Beijing in December, where it said it discovered and death with two alleged cyberattacks from the United States on Chinese tech firms, to steal trade secrets since May 2023. However the country did not point at any agency at the time.
Tensions between China and the United States are already running high, with both countries imposing trade sanctions and issuing travel warnings. In recent years, U.S. authorities have accused Chinese state-backed hackers of breaching American infrastructure and government networks. Last month, the United States announced indictments against several Chinese hackers who targeted the United States Intelligence Agency, the Department of Commerce, and the foreign ministries of Taiwan, South Korea, India, and Indonesia.