The US is allegedly using a hack to target one of China’s top research institutions and steal data from it, according to the authorities.China has said that Northwestern Polytechnical University was the target of a cyberattack by the US Defense Department’s National Security Agency, also known as NSA.
On Times Higher Education’s (THE) 2022 World University Rankings and THE 2022 Asia University Rankings, the university is ranked between 500 and 600th and 87th, respectively. The university holds a 551–560th place position in the QS World University Rankings for 2022.
The institute, however, is viewed by the US as a Chinese university that conducts military research and collaborates with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).The cyberattack was highlighted in one of the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center’s (CVERC) most recent reports. CVERC is the Chinese equivalent of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is in charge of bolstering the nation’s cybersecurity infrastructure.
The NSA’s Tailored Access Operations (TAO) branch allegedly carried out the cyberattack. The cybersecurity system of Northwestern Polytechnical University was breached using 41 hacking tools.
