DNYUZ
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Television
    • Theater
    • Gaming
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
DNYUZ
No Result
View All Result
Home News

China-sponsored hacker stole COVID data from top US universities, labs: feds

July 8, 2025
in News
China-sponsored hacker stole COVID data from top US universities, labs: feds
497
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A Chinese national hacked into the computers of major US universities and research labs to steal COVID-19 data as part of a government-sponsored cyberattack during the pandemic, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

“While the world was reeling from a virus that originated in China, the Chinese government plotted to steal US research critical to vaccine development,” FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams said in a statement released Tuesday.

Suspect Zewei Xu, 33, infiltrated American research facilities as an agent for China’s Ministry of State Security and the Shanghai State Security Bureau to pilfer the information on the virus and vaccines over nearly two years, prosecutors in the District Attorneys Office in the Southern District of Texas said in the release.

System hacked alert on a laptop screen.
Federal prosecutors said the alleged Chinese hacker was part of the Hafnium hack identified by Microsft in 2021. Montri – stock.adobe.com

Xu, who was on the run since 2023, was recently nabbed by the FBI and international authorities in Milan, Italy, after getting off a plane from China and is facing extradition to the US, prosecutors said.

“[Xu’s] landmark arrest by FBI Houston agents in Italy proves that we will scour the ends of the Earth to hold criminal foreign adversaries accountable,” Williams said.

According to a newly unsealed indictment, Xu and accused 44-year-old cohort Yu Zhang, who remains on the run, were part of a Chinese-sponsored covert plot to steal US data on COVID-19 research between February 2020 and June 2021.

COVID-19 test sample in a protective bag.
Federal prosecutors in Texas said a Chinese-government sponsored hacker stole US COVID vaccine data. Getty Images

The pair were part of a coordinated Chinese cyberattack on various US industries that was identified and exposed by Microsoft in 2021 and is publicly known as “Hafnium.”

In early 2020, Xu and his accomplice allegedly targeted universities in Texas and elsewhere, as well as leading immunologists and virologists who were working on COVID vaccines.

On Feb. 19, 2020, he allegedly contacted his Chinese handlers to report that he had compromised the network of one Texas facility. He was told to “access specific email accounts belonging to virologists and immunologists engaged in COVID-19 research,” prosecutors said.

On Feb. 28, 2021, the feds said Xu informed the Shanghai State Security Bureau about his “successful intrusions” into the school’s database and was told to get data on other operations, too.

FBI seal.
Xu Zewei, 33, was nabbed by the FBI in Italy and charged with hacking into US COVID research databanks. Bloomberg via Getty Images

Xu and Zhang were indicted on wire fraud conspiracy and related federal hacking charges in November 2023, with the charges remaining sealed until Xu’s arrest in Italy.

“The Southern District of Texas has been waiting years to bring Xu to justice, and that day is nearly at hand,” district US Attorney Nicholas Ganjei said in a statement. “As this case shows, even if it takes years we will track hackers down and make them answer for their crimes.

“The United States does not forget.”

The post China-sponsored hacker stole COVID data from top US universities, labs: feds appeared first on New York Post.

Tags: ChinaCoronavirusCOVID vaccineFBIHackersspies
Share199Tweet124Share
Julia Roberts Forced to Defend Her New #MeToo Movie
News

Julia Roberts Forced to Defend Her New #MeToo Movie

by The Daily Beast
August 29, 2025

Julia Roberts has been forced to defend her new film After the Hunt on Friday from claims it “undermines feminist ...

Read more
News

Judge Tosses D.C. Case From Trump Prosecutor—Calls It Total Garbage

August 29, 2025
Business

The Danger of Trump Seizing Private Companies

August 29, 2025
News

‘My Life With the Walter Boys’ Showrunner Melanie Halsall On Jackie Wanting To “Cement Her Life” In Silver Falls As The Love Triangle Continues In Season 2

August 29, 2025
News

Alabama town’s first Black mayor reelected after being locked out of office

August 29, 2025
No Schuman roundabout canopy without more money

No Schuman roundabout canopy without more money

August 29, 2025
Waymo CEO says the company will push back on law enforcement requests: ‘We need communities to be able to trust us’

Waymo CEO says the company will push back on law enforcement requests: ‘We need communities to be able to trust us’

August 29, 2025
Legionnaires’ Outbreak Traced to N.Y.C.-Owned Sites, Including Hospital

Legionnaires’ Outbreak Traced to N.Y.C.-Owned Sites, Including Hospital

August 29, 2025

Copyright © 2025.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel

Copyright © 2025.