MSS Claims NSA Used 42 Cyber Tools in Multi-Stage Attack on Beijing Time Systems

"The Ministry of State Security (MSS), in a WeChat post, said it uncovered "irrefutable evidence" of the agency's involvement in the intrusion that dated back to March 25, 2022. The attack was ultimately foiled, it added. Established in 1966 under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), NTSC is responsible for generating, maintaining, and transmitting the national standard of time (Beijing Time)."

"On April 18 the following year, the MSS claimed that the agency repeatedly used stolen login credentials to break into the computers at the center to probe its infrastructure, followed by deploying a new "cyber warfare platform" between August 2023 and June 2024. The platform activated what it described as 42 specialized tools to mount high-intensity attacks aimed at multiple internal network systems of NTSC."

MSS accused the U.S. NSA of a premeditated cyberattack on the National Time Service Center (NTSC), saying the intrusion dated to March 25, 2022 and was ultimately foiled. NTSC generates and transmits Beijing Time. MSS warned that attacks on NTSC could disrupt communications, finance, power, transport and space launches. MSS said the NSA exploited security flaws in an unnamed foreign SMS service to compromise mobile devices of NTSC staff and steal sensitive data. On April 18 the following year, MSS said the NSA used stolen credentials to access NTSC computers and between August 2023 and June 2024 deployed a "cyber warfare platform" that activated 42 tools to attack internal networks.

Read at The Hacker News