Overview
- China's Ministry of State Security says the campaign began by exploiting a flaw in the messaging app of an unspecified foreign smartphone brand to access employees' devices.
- Investigators report stolen data and login credentials dating to 2022 that were used to monitor staff mobiles and penetrate the center’s network systems.
- Authorities allege efforts to compromise the high-precision timekeeping system from August 2023 through June 2024, often during late-night Beijing hours.
- The ministry says the operators routed activity through virtual private servers in the United States, Europe and Asia to obscure origins.
- Officials warn that interference with national time distribution could disrupt communications networks, financial transactions, power-grid synchronization and international standard time, while analysts caution that the technical details do not conclusively attribute the attacks.