Chinese government hacker Xu Zewei extradited to U.S. for prosecution
Original: Hacker who allegedly carried out cyberattacks for China is extradited to U.S.
Why This Matters
Major development in U.S.-China cybersecurity tensions and state-sponsored hacking prosecutions
Xu Zewei, accused of conducting cyberattacks for China's Ministry of State Security, was extradited from Italy to the U.S. on Saturday. He allegedly targeted U.S. universities for COVID-19 research and hacked thousands of Microsoft Exchange servers as part of the Hafnium group.
Xu Zewei, accused of working as a contractor for China's Ministry of State Security, has been extradited to the United States and is now in detention in Houston, Texas. The Justice Department alleges Xu and co-conspirator Zhang Yu targeted U.S. universities in early 2020 to steal COVID-19 pandemic research. They also allegedly hacked thousands of Microsoft Exchange servers starting March 2021 as part of an "indiscriminate" campaign by the Chinese-backed Hafnium hacking group, later known as Silk Typhoon. Xu was arrested in Italy last year at U.S. request. Prosecutors say he worked for Shanghai Powerock Network, a company that conducted hacking for Beijing, with hackers reporting activities directly to Chinese state officials in Shanghai.