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Chinese authorities have pointed the finger at the NSA following recent cyber attacks on the country’s Northwestern Polytechnical University.
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This week, China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center claimed the source of recent cyber attacks on Northwestern Polytechnical University was the NSA's Office of Tailored Access Operations, a secretive unit of the agency known for breaking into computers on an international scale to "get the ungettable".
According to the university, its staff and students received emails disguised as invitations to academic events or scientific review in June, but found they were phishing emails aimed at stealing email logins. The attack was carried out by the NSA according to the Chinese National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center following an initial investigation it conducted with the Beijing-based internet security company 360 Security Technology Inc.
There are hundreds of inauthentic Chinese state-linked social media accounts sharing statements and memes blaming the NSA for the cyber attack, according to Albert Zhang, a researcher with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, in the weeks leading up to the centre's announcement.
"Regardless of whether the claims are true or false, this coordination of official statements and covert activity may be part of a broader propaganda campaign to negatively portray the US and show off Chinese cyber security capabilities,” Zhang said in an interview with VICE World News.
Some analysts have noted that China is running an information campaign to counter US allegations of Chinese hacking after it has been increasingly vocal in accusing US individuals or groups of hitting Chinese users and institutions with cyber attacks.
The Chinese military conducts aeronautics and defence research at the Northwestern Polytechnical University, which reported being attacked by foreign hackers in June after staff and students received phishing emails.
The Northwestern Polytechnical University in Shaanxi province is funded and directly managed by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and is among a number of public Chinese institutions sanctioned by Washington over its close ties with the military. The university helps with the development of military weapons, including drones, fighter jets, and spacecraft.
Speaking at a regular press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called on the US to offer an explanation, asserting the incident is another example of the US government’s cyber attacks on China.
"The US has also long carried out indiscriminate audio surveillance against Chinese cell-phone users, illegally stole text messages from them and conducted wireless positioning," Mao said.
According to VICE World News, the case was also widely covered by Chinese media outlets and racked up more than 380 million views on Chinese social media platform Weibo by Monday evening.
For years, the US government and internet security companies have pointed fingers at China for a wide range of hacking operations, but Beijing has repeatedly denied involvement in security breach campaigns.
In February, a Chinese cyber security firm linked the NSA to a hacking operation with targets spanning 45 countries, including China.
The alleged US hacking did not result in any significant data leak, according to Northwestern Polytechnical University.
[Related: Hackers can hijack Microsoft’s automation tool to spread malware]
