US arrests Chinese hacker Xu Zewei for stealing COVID-19 research and hacking Microsoft servers

The U.S. Justice Department confirmed the arrest of Chinese national Xu Zewei, a suspected contract hacker for the Chinese government. Xu was arrested in Italy after the U.S. requested his extradition, according to the report by TechCrunch.

He allegedly worked for a Chinese tech company called Shanghai Powerock Network, which helped China with hacking operations. Xu and another Chinese hacker named Zhang Yu, who is still on the run, were charged with 9 serious hacking crimes in the U.S, as stated by the reports.

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Chinese hackers stole COVID research and attacked Microsoft servers

The U.S. says they stole sensitive COVID-19 research from American universities in February 2020, during the early pandemic. They are accused of cyber spying and data theft, which could have given China an edge in vaccine or treatment research, according to the report by TechCrunch.

Xu and his group also carried out a massive hacking attack on Microsoft Exchange servers in March 2021. The hackers broke into over 60,000 email servers across the U.S., mostly run by small businesses, and stole private emails and contact info, as per the reports.

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The U.S. says the hackers are part of a Chinese hacking group called Hafnium, linked to Beijing. Hafnium later started a new cyberattack campaign called Silk Typhoon, known for targeting large companies and U.S. government agencies, according to the report by TechCrunch.

FAQs

Q1. Who is Xu Zewei and why was he arrested?
Xu Zewei is a Chinese hacker arrested in Italy for stealing U.S. COVID-19 research and hacking Microsoft servers, as per U.S. Justice Department.

Q2. What is the Hafnium hacking group?
Hafnium is a China-linked hacker group accused of major cyberattacks on U.S. companies and government email servers, including Microsoft Exchange.