- China has accused the US of cyber-espionage
- China’s National Time Service Center was breached through security flaws in employee phones
- The two states have been pointing the finger at each other for years regarding various cyber-incidents
China has accusing the US of infiltrating its National Time Service Center, exploiting vulnerabilities in employee phones to steal login credentials, hack computers, and exfiltrate information.
China says it has ‘irrefutable evidence’ the US’s National Security Agency (NSA) has accessed stolen credentials and used these to breach network systems at the center as far back as 2022.
China warns these serious incidents may have disrupted financial systems, power supplies, communications networks, and the international standard time.
Protective measures
The National Time Center is a research institute, responsible for generating and distributing the official standard time, and providing precise timing for communications, finance, power, transport, and defense industries – any disruption to which could have a severe impact on daily life for citizens.
It’s not yet clear what the ‘irrefutable evidence’ is that China claims to have, nor has it been revealed exactly what information was stolen in the attack – but national security authorities have said their investigations reveal private servers across the world were used to disguise the source of the attacks.
The two nations have a long history of accusing each other of cyber-intrusions, with the NSA recently coming under fire specifically for allegations it attacked Chinese critical infrastructure such as communications, transportation, and energy services.
To outline the extent of the cat and mouse game between the two states; In August of 2025, the NSA warned Chinese tech firms may have had ties to a cyber espionage group Salt Typhoon, which targeted hundreds of firms, lingering on networks and exfiltrating information.
Mr Lui Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy told TechRadar Pro, “Cyber attacks are a common threat faced by all countries, China included. China firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyber attacks and cyber crime—a position that is consistent and clear. At the same time, we also firmly oppose smearing others without solid evidence.”
Via: Bloomberg
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.
