Police in the Chinese city of Harbin have accused the US National Security Agency of carrying out cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February, targeting key industries in China, Reuters reports, News.bg reports.
Three alleged NSA employees have been placed on a wanted list, with Chinese police also accusing the University of California and Virginia Tech of involvement in the attacks following investigations.
According to the state news agency Xinhua, the agents have been identified as Wilson, Robert J. Snelling and Stephen W. Johnson. They are accused of repeatedly carrying out cyberattacks against China's critical information infrastructure and participating in attacks on Huawei and other companies. It did not specify the involvement of the two American universities.
A report by the Harbin Municipal Public Security Bureau indicated that the attacks targeted industries such as energy, transportation, water supply, communications and national defense research institutions in Heilongjiang Province.
The goal of these cyberattacks was to sabotage "China's critical information infrastructure", cause social unrest and steal important confidential data.
According to "Xinhua", the cyberattacks by the US National Security Agency were carried out during the Winter Asian Games and are believed to have activated "specific pre-installed backdoors" in Microsoft Windows operating systems on certain devices in Heilongjiang.
The attacks targeted information systems, including the registration system for the Asian Winter Games, which contained "sensitive information about the identity of personnel involved in the event".
In response to the accusations, China points out that in recent years it has been accused by Western governments of cyberattacks and industrial espionage, while in the past two years several Chinese organizations and government agencies have accused the United States and its allies of similar actions.