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Police allege the US National Security Agency targeted the Asian Winter Games earlier this year as Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson condemns “malicious cyber activity”.
China’s state news agency, Xinhua, is reporting that Chinese authorities have issued arrest warrants for three US nationals allegedly responsible for cyber attacks timed to disrupt the Asian Winter Games held in February.
The Harbin Public Security Bureau, located in the city of Harbin in China’s Heilongjiang Province, made the claims on 15 April, alleging that three individuals – Katheryn A. Wilson, Robert J. Snelling, and Stephen W. Johnson – were operatives of the National Security Agency (NSA).
According to the police, the trio targeted travel and registration systems, official information platforms, and competition entry platforms. At the same time, police allege, the NSA targeted other infrastructure in the region.
“Meanwhile, the NSA launched cyber attacks targeting critical infrastructure sectors in Heilongjiang Province, including energy, transportation, water resources, telecommunications, and defence research institutions, authorities said,” Xinhua said.
The three alleged NSA operatives are also alleged to have attempted to activate “pre-implanted backdoors” in several Windows-based systems and to have previously targeted Chinese technology firm Huawei.
Speaking at his daily press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded to media questions regarding the Harbin Public Security Bureau’s claims.
“At the ninth Asian Winter Games, the US government conducted cyber attacks on the information systems of the Games and the critical information infrastructure in Heilongjiang,” Lin Jian said on 15 April.
“This move is egregious, for it severely endangers the security of China’s critical information infrastructure, national defence, finance, society and production, as well as its citizens’ personal information. China condemns the above-mentioned malicious cyber activity by the US government.”
Lin Jian said China had informed US authorities of its concerns regarding the attacks and urged the US to cease such activity.
“China will continue to do what is necessary to protect its own cyber security,” Lin Jian said.
China’s concerns over US cyber activity come just days after apparent revelations that Chinese officials made an “indirect and somewhat ambiguous” admission that China was, in fact, behind Volt Typhoon hacking activity targeting US infrastructure. The admission of Chinese responsibility came during a secret meeting between outgoing Biden administration officials and Chinese representatives on the sidelines of a summit in Geneva in December 2024, reported by The Wall Street Journal late last week.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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