Beijing has stepped up spying warnings as relations with the US and other Western nations sour
China urges its citizens to be vigilant against foreign attacks and report suspicious activities to the authorities. PHOTO: PEXELS
China accused the United States on Sunday of conducting cyber attacks on Beijing’s national time center that could cause severe damage to critical economic and telecommunications infrastructure.
Beijing has stepped up warnings about espionage in recent years as relations with the United States and other Western nations have soured.
Chinese authorities have found “irrefutable evidence” of efforts by the US National Security Agency (NSA) to hack the National Time Service Center between 2022 and 2024, according to a statement posted on the Ministry of State Security’s official WeChat account.
Read also: Pakistan successfully launches first hyperspectral satellite from China
The facility is responsible for coordinating nationwide clocks used by everything from computer servers to train stations and power grids.
The department accused the NSA of exploiting weaknesses in the messaging service of an unspecified foreign brand of cellphones to steal login credentials from employees at the time center.
The attacks could have jeopardized power grids, transportation and even space launches, the ministry said.
Chinese authorities have since “broken the chains of attack, upgraded protective measures and eliminated potential threats.”
“In recent years, the United States has aggressively pursued cyber hegemony, repeatedly violating international cyber norms,” the department said in a statement.
He urged Chinese citizens to be vigilant against foreign attacks and report suspicious activities to the authorities.
Read also: China-backed hackers are accused of breaching F5’s cybersecurity, Bloomberg reports
Western countries have accused hacker groups allegedly backed by China of waging a global cyber espionage campaign against figures critical of Beijing, democratic institutions and companies in various sensitive sectors.
Washington said last year that a Chinese state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach at the US Treasury Department.
Beijing at the time called the accusations “baseless”.
“Iron evidence proves that the United States is the real ‘hacker empire’ and the biggest source of cyber chaos,” China’s Ministry of State Security said on Sunday.
a href=”https://tribune.com.pk/story/2573147/china-says-us-hacking-threatened-financial-telecom-infrastructure”>Source link
