China‘s Ministry of State Security has accused the United States of launching cyberattacks on the country’s National Time Service Centre, a key facility responsible for maintaining and distributing the nation’s standard time.
In a statement released on social media, the ministry alleged that the attacks were carried out by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and described them as “long-term, highly covert and employing state-level cyberespionage tools.”
The National Time Service Centre, located in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, operates under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and provides precise timing services for critical sectors such as telecommunications, finance, energy, transportation, mapping and defence.
The ministry said the alleged US cyber operations risked disrupting the “orderly functioning of society” by targeting such infrastructure.
China claims attacks spanned over two years
According to the ministry, the cyberattacks began in March 2022, when the NSA allegedly exploited security vulnerabilities in foreign-brand mobile phones used by several staff members at the time centre, allowing access to sensitive internal data.
The statement further claimed that from April 2023, the NSA used stolen passwords to infiltrate the centre’s network systems and conduct surveillance.
Between August 2023 and June 2024, the attacks reportedly intensified, with the US agency deploying a new cyberwarfare platform equipped with 42 specialised tools to penetrate internal networks and attempt to access China’s high-precision ground-based timing systems.
Chinese authorities said the attacks primarily occurred during late-night hours Beijing time and were routed through virtual servers in the United States, Europe and Asia to mask their origin. Strong encryption methods were reportedly used to conceal the cyber activities.
Beijing says countermeasures were taken
The ministry said state security agencies had collected evidence of the attacks and guided the National Time Service Centre to isolate affected systems, remove malicious code and strengthen defences against future breaches.
Wei Dong, a senior official at the time centre, told state broadcaster CCTV that timing accuracy is crucial for maintaining stable operations in key national systems.
Even a millisecond error, he said, could cause blackouts in power networks, while microsecond or nanosecond discrepancies could affect stock markets, navigation systems and internet services.
Li Jianhua, director of the National Engineering Laboratory for Information Content Analysis Technology at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said the alleged operation matched patterns of an “advanced persistent threat” — a term used internationally to describe long-term, state-sponsored cyber intrusions.
He added that attackers often exploited so-called “zero-day vulnerabilities”, or previously unknown security flaws, allowing them to bypass detection and infiltrate critical networks.
Chinese officials said the incident underlined the growing risks of state-level cyber confrontation, particularly in sectors linked to national infrastructure, communication and defence.
