China Accuses U.S. of Attacking Critical Infrastructure via National Time Synchronization System

China’s Ministry of State Security accused the United States of launching a large-scale cyberattack on the NTSC (National Time Synchronization Center), a key center for ‘Beijing Time’ synchronization that serves the energy, communications, transportation, and defense sectors.

The Associated Press reported on this.

According to China, the attack was carried out by specialists from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). Similar operations have been conducted repeatedly, and, according to Beijing, their goal is to disrupt the synchronization systems of critical infrastructure and defense networks.

China claims that the attacks began on March 25, 2022, and continued until at least June 2024. Chinese intelligence agencies claim that American hackers exploited a vulnerability in a third-party SMS service to access NTSC employee accounts. Starting April 18, 2023, the hackers also infiltrated the center’s internal networks.

The agency noted that such attacks could lead to large-scale disruptions in communications, financial systems, energy, transportation, and even the international time system. China called this operation “an example of intensive cyber warfare” that the United States is allegedly waging against China.

At the same time, however, analysts point out that China also conducts numerous cyber activities against European countries and the United States. In particular, the actions of Chinese hacker groups working on behalf of the government have been repeatedly documented.

Militarnyi previously reported that China poses an increasingly serious threat to Poland’s cybersecurity due to attacks on government institutions and infrastructure. According to a CSIRT GOV report, there was an increase in activity by the Chinese groups APT15 and UAC-0050 (DaVinci) in 2024. These groups target critical infrastructure and government.