 of executing “advanced” cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February.){kind=link}
Authorities in Harbin, China, have accused three agents from the United States National Security Agency (NSA) of executing “advanced” cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February.
According to local police, the cyber operations targeted vital sectors across the province.
The three alleged NSA agents have now been added to a wanted list, with Chinese investigators also implicating the University of California and Virginia Tech in the scheme. The claims were made in a report by the state-run news agency Xinhua on Tuesday.
While the report mentioned the two universities, it did not elaborate on their roles or level of involvement in the alleged attack.
This latest accusation surfaces against the backdrop of ongoing tensions between China and the United States, particularly amid a long-running trade dispute between the two global powers.
Citing the Harbin public security bureau, Xinhua reported that the NSA targeted “important industries such as energy, transportation, water conservancy, communications, and national defence research institutions in Heilongjiang province.”
The attacks, authorities allege, aimed to “sabotage China’s critical information infrastructure, cause social disorder, and steal important confidential information.”
Xinhua further claimed that the NSA’s cyber operations “suspected of activating specific pre-installed backdoors” in Microsoft Windows systems on affected devices across the province.