China accuses US of cyber attack on national time centre

The ministry of state security said the National Time Service Centre was responsible for generating and distributing China’s standard time (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

China has accused the US national security agency of carrying out cyber attacks on its national time centre following an investigation, saying any damage to related facilities could have disrupted network communications, financial systems and power supply.

The ministry of state security alleged in a WeChat post that the US agency had exploited vulnerabilities in the messaging services of a foreign mobile phone brand to steal sensitive information from devices of the National Time Service Centre’s staff in 2022. It did not specify the brand.

The US agency also used 42 types of “special cyberattack weapons” to target the centre’s multiple internal network systems and attempted to infiltrate a key timing system between 2023 and 2024, it said.

The US is accusing others of what it does itself, repeatedly hyping up claims about Chinese cyber threats

The ministry said it had evidence but did not provide it in the post.

It said the time centre was responsible for generating and distributing China’s standard time, in addition to providing timing services to industries such as communications, finance, power, transport and defence. It had provided guidance to the centre to eliminate the risks.

“The US is accusing others of what it does itself, repeatedly hyping up claims about Chinese cyber threats,” it said.

Western governments in recent years have alleged that hackers linked to the Chinese government have targeted officials, journalists, corporations and others.

The ministry’s statement could fuel tensions between Washington and Beijing, on top of trade, technology and Taiwan issues.

The US embassy did not immediately comment.