China accuses U.S. of cyberattack on national time center

Attendees walk past an electronic display showing recent cyberattacks in China at the China Internet Security Conference in Beijing on Sept. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

BEIJING — China on Sunday accused the U.S. National Security Agency of carrying out cyberattacks on its national time center, saying any damage to related facilities could have disrupted network communications, financial systems and power supply.

The Ministry of State Security alleged that the U.S. 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 Center’s staff in 2022. It did not specify the brand.

The U.S. agency also used 42 types of “special cyberattack weapons” to target the center’s multiple internal network systems and attempted to infiltrate a key timing system between 2023 and 2024, it said in a post on WeChat, a Chinese social media platform.

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

It said the time center is responsible for generating and distributing China’s standard time, in addition to providing timing services to industries such as communications, finance, power, transport and defense. The ministry added that it had provided guidance to the center to eliminate the risks.

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

Western governments in recent years have alleged 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 U.S. Embassy did not address the Chinese allegation in an emailed response.

The response focused on China’s cyberattacks, calling them the most active and persistent threat to the U.S. government and companies.