• Chinese authorities added three alleged NSA agents to a wanted list for cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games.
• The suspects are accused of orchestrating attacks against critical industries in Heilongjiang Province.
• Cybersecurity experts claim the NSA leveraged AI to conduct these attacks.

Chinese police in Harbin have accused three individuals linked to the United States National Security Agency (NSA) of conducting "advanced" cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games held in February. The accused agents, identified as Katheryn A. Wilson, Robert J. Snelling, and Stephen W. Johnson, have been placed on a wanted list by local authorities after investigations revealed their involvement in attacks on Virginia Tech and the University of California, though the exact nature of this involvement remains unspecified, according to South China Morning Post.

The cyberattacks targeted essential sectors such as energy, communications, and national defense research institutions in Heilongjiang Province. According to the report from state media Xinhua, the NSA's objective was allegedly to disrupt critical information infrastructure during the Winter Games, aiming to steal sensitive information and cause social disorder. Xinhua detailed the operations involved the activation of pre-installed backdoors on devices running Microsoft Windows, further delineating the scale of the accusations, as noted by Reuters.

Chinese cybersecurity experts have suggested that the NSA utilized artificial intelligence (AI) to plan and execute these cyber assaults. Zhou Hongyi, founder of 360 Security Technology, characterized the identification of these agents as a significant breakthrough in understanding U.S. cyberattack methodologies. He indicated that the attacks included sophisticated planning and exploitation of vulnerabilities, with some coding allegedly produced by AI, as reported by Channel News Asia.

As tensions between the two leading economies escalate amid ongoing trade disputes, this incident has further strained diplomatic relations. The U.S. Embassy in China has yet to comment on these serious allegations. Meanwhile, Beijing has reiterated its stance of denying involvement in overseas cyberespionage, despite having levied similar accusations against American agencies in the past few years. The cycle of mutual accusations highlights the intricate dynamics of global cyber warfare, as detailed by Al Jazeera.