China has accused the United States of stealing sensitive data and infiltrating its National Time Service Centre, warning that such breaches could have disrupted communications, financial systems, power supplies, and the international standard time network.
In a statement posted on its WeChat account on Sunday, China’s Ministry of State Security alleged that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had conducted a prolonged cyberattack against the National Time Service Centre.
According to the ministry, investigators uncovered evidence of stolen data and login credentials dating back to 2022, which were allegedly used to monitor staff mobile devices and network systems at the centre.
The ministry claimed that the NSA “exploited a vulnerability” in the messaging app of an unnamed foreign smartphone brand to gain access to employees’ devices in 2022.
The National Time Service Centre, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is responsible for producing, maintaining, and distributing China’s official standard time.
The ministry also said that the U.S. carried out further attacks on the centre’s internal networks and attempted to target its high-precision ground-based timing systems in 2023 and 2024.
The U.S. embassy in Beijing did not respond directly to the allegations but countered that China-based cyber actors have compromised major American and global telecommunications networks to conduct extensive espionage operations.
“China remains the most active and persistent cyber threat to U.S. government, private-sector, and critical infrastructure networks,” a spokesperson for the embassy said in an email to Reuters.
The two countries have increasingly exchanged cyber-espionage accusations in recent years, each branding the other as its principal digital adversary.
The latest claims come amid escalating trade tensions, following China’s tighter controls on rare earth exports and Washington’s warning that it could impose additional tariffs on Chinese products.
Russia is open to listening to new proposals on how to reach a settlement on the Ukraine conflict, a senior Russia...
Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are strengthening their strategic alliance as trade, investment and transport links grow, President Ilham Aliyev said ahe...
Iran has condemned remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on escalating economic and trade sanctions, calling ...
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 20th of August, covering the latest developments.
Five years after Evergrande's debt crisis rattled global markets, founder Hui Ka Yan has been sentenced to life in prison, marking a dramatic new chapter in the downfall of China's former property giant.
Russian ballistic missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has killed at least sixteen people and injured more than forty others, Ukrainian officials said, with fires reported across the city and Poland activating defensive air operations.
An artificial intelligence agent running an experimental store in San Francisco has recommended dismissing a human employee after the worker repeatedly arrived late for shifts.
Nvidia is teaming up with some of the biggest names in global finance in a move that underscores how artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming one of the world's most sought-after investment themes.
Parts of Europe and the Arctic will briefly fall into darkness on Wednesday, 12 August, as the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun in a total solar eclipse.
Meta said one of its AI models hacked another company's systems during cybersecurity testing, intensifying concerns about how developers can contain increasingly capable AI systems following similar incidents involving Anthropic and OpenAI.
Scientists say the accidental crash of a discarded SpaceX rocket stage into the moon has provided valuable data on impact cratering while posing no threat to Earth or lunar hardware.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment