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The U.S. Department of Justice this week announced the arrest of one of two suspected “state-backed” Chinese spies accused of hacking and stealing medical research about COVID-19 vaccines and treatment from Texas universities during the early stages of the pandemic.
The Justice Department and FBI have not publicly identified the specific universities targeted by the alleged spies. A spokesperson for the DOJ confirmed at least one university is located within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Southern District Court of Texas, which includes Houston and stretches south to Brownsville.
Xu Zewei, 33, was arrested last week in Italy at the request of the U.S., according to the DOJ. Federal agents have accused him of compromising thousands of computers in the U.S. and Italy, according to a nine-count indictment unsealed Tuesday. Zhang Yu, 44, is accused as a co-defendant in the indictment. Yu remains at large.
“The indictment alleges that Xu was hacking and stealing crucial COVID-19 research at the behest of the Chinese government while that same government was simultaneously withholding information about the virus and its origins,” Nicholas Ganjei, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said in a statement. “The Southern District of Texas has been waiting years to bring Xu to justice and that day is nearly at hand. As this case shows, even if it takes years, we will track hackers down and make them answer for their crimes. The United States does not forget.”
According to the indictment, Xu and Yu are accused of providing the hacked information to a Shanghai State Security Bureau officer in 2020.
Three unnamed universities and one law firm were cited in the indictment. Two of the universities are described as being located in the Southern District Court of Texas. One is located in North Carolina and the law firm is in Washington, D.C.
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