Chinese state-sponsored contract hacker arrested in Italy at US request, DOJ says
Xu Zewei, 33, was arrested on Jul 3, the Justice Department said, adding a nine-count indictment was unsealed on Tuesday in the Southern District of Texas alleging the involvement of that individual and a co-defendant in computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021.
Xu was arrested in Milan, Italy, and will face extradition proceedings, the DOJ said in a statement.
It alleged China's ministry of state security had directed theft of COVID-19 research and the exploitation of Microsoft email software vulnerabilities.
The Chinese government has previously denied allegations of being involved. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington, said on Tuesday China opposes all forms of cyber crimes, adding that "China has neither the need nor the intention to acquire vaccines through so-called theft".
Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, said on Thursday that China opposed "the use of so-called cyber issues to maliciously smear China" when asked about the case in a regular press briefing.
China opposes the extradition of Chinese citizens through a third country, Mao said, accusing the US of "abusing long-arm jurisdiction".
Xu's lawyer said on Tuesday that he is a victim of mistaken identity, that his surname is quite common in China and that his mobile phone had been stolen in 2020.
The 33-year-old IT manager at a Shanghai company appeared on Tuesday before an appeals court in Milan, which will decide whether to send him to the United States. The man was arrested last week after he arrived at Milan's Malpensa airport for a holiday in Italy with his wife.
US authorities allege that he was part of a team of hackers who in 2020 hacked and otherwise targeted US-based universities, immunologist, and virologists conducting research into COVID-19 vaccines, treatment, and testing. The US Justice Department says a research university located in the Southern District of Texas was also targeted.
The DOJ also says that in 2021, he was part of a cyber-espionage group known as Hafnium, which has alleged ties to the Chinese government and which "exploited zero-day vulnerabilities in US systems to steal additional research".
Hafnium targeted over 60,000 US entities, according to the DOJ.
The charges listed on the arrest warrant were wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and unauthorised access to protected computers.
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