Beijing [China], April 15 (ANI): China has accused the United States of cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure sectors in its northeast Heilongjiang Province, including energy, transportation, water resources, telecommunications, and defence research institutions, during the Winter Games in February, authorities said according to state media.

Police in China have launched a hunt for three persons allegedly affiliated with the US' National Security Agency (NSA) over suspected cyberattacks targeting the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games held in the country this February, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

Technical teams also uncovered evidence implicating two US universities- University of California and Virginia Tech- in what they say were co-ordinated cyber campaign against the Asian Winter Games, authorities stated. The 9th Asian Winter Games was held in Harbin from February 7 to 14.

The Harbin public security bureau issued rewards for the capture of three operatives -- Katheryn A Wilson, Robert J Snelling, and Stephen W Johnson - who it alleged had been engaged in cyberattacks targeting the Games, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The news outlet said that Investigations by Chinese technical teams revealed that the cyberattacks were carried out by the Office of Tailored Access Operations of the NSA.

The NSA operations were 'suspected of activating specific pre-installed backdoors' in Microsoft Windows operating systems on specific devices in Heilongjiang, Xinhua said.

The investigations, as per the Xinhua report, said that to conceal the origins of its attacks and secure its cyber weapons, the office used multiple affiliated front organizations to purchase IP addresses from various countries and anonymously rented servers located in regions including Europe and Asia.

The NSA intended to use cyberattacks to steal the personal data of participating athletes, the Chinese news agency said, adding that the cyberattacks reached a peak from the first ice hockey game on February 3.

A report in the Global Times on April 3 cited the 'Cyber Threat Report of the 9th Asian Winter Games Harbin 2025' released by National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and National Engineering Laboratory for Computer Virus Prevention Technology, during the Winter Games to state that the information systems of competition and the critical network infrastructures in Heilongjiang Province were 'targeted by numerous cyberattacks from abroad', with most originating from the US, the Netherlands, and other countries and regions.

'These attacks even targeted critical network infrastructure in an attempt to create chaos and steal sensitive intelligence,' it said.

The United States has often accused Chinese state-backed hackers for targeting its infrastructure. Last month, the US Department of Justice unsealed indictments charging eight employees of Chinese technology company i-Soon and two officers of Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) on various hacking-related offences.

Furthermore, the US imposed sanctions on the Shanghai-based malicious cyber actor and data broker, Zhou Shuai, and his company, Shanghai Heiying Information Technology Company. According to the US Department of State spokesperson Tammy Bruce's statement, Zhou Shuai illegally acquired, brokered, and sold data from highly sensitive US critical infrastructure networks, including those in the defence industrial base, communications, health, and government sectors.

In January this year, the US announced sanctions from the Treasury Department against a Chinese tech company. The company is accused of being involved in a large cyberattack on US telecommunications companies, which was revealed last year. The hackers specifically targeted the phone communications of President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and senior officials in the Biden administration, CNN reported.

The US Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on a person from Shanghai, accusing them of being involved in a different hack of the Treasury Department. The hackers went after unclassified information from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and her deputy, Wally Adeyemo, as part of an intelligence-gathering mission. They also breached the US government office that examines foreign investments for national security risks, according to the US broadcaster. (ANI)