In a strong accusation, China has claimed that the U.S. is engaged in cyber-espionage and has infiltrated the country’s National Time Center. Beijing warns that such aggressive actions could destabilize critically important infrastructures, ranging from communication networks and financial markets to electricity supply and the functioning of international standard time.
According to a statement released by the Ministry of State Security of China on WeChat, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has long been conducting cyberattacks on the National Time Service Center. The ministry asserts that irrefutable evidence has been found indicating that stolen data and accounts have been used to monitor mobile devices and the network systems of the center’s employees since 2022.
Furthermore, in 2022, U.S. intelligence agencies exploited a vulnerability in a popular messaging service from a foreign smartphone manufacturer – the name of which has not been disclosed – to gain unauthorized access to the devices of the center’s personnel. The National Time Center is a key research institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, responsible for determining, maintaining, and transmitting standard time across China.
An investigation conducted by the ministry also revealed that in 2023 and 2024, the U.S. launched targeted attacks on the center’s internal network systems and attempted to hack into its high-precision ground synchronization systems.