U.S. accuses Chinese man of hacking COVID medical research

American authorities this weekend extradited from Italy a Chinese national who prosecutors allege stole COVID-19 medical research. FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday said that Xu Zewei, 34, hacked U.S universities, immunologists, and virologists. Patel alleged that two Chinese intelligence agencies directed Xu to hack information on key treatments and vaccines.

Xu appeared in the U.S. District Court in Houston on Monday on a nine-count indictment. Some of his charges included wire fraud, identity theft, and “conspiracy to cause damage to and obtain information by unauthorized access to protected computers.”

How has Xu responded to the charges? Xu’s lawyer told Reuters that his client was ‌a victim of ‌mistaken identity. Additionally, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said the United States fabricated the charges against Xu, according to the South China Morning Post.

Did Xu commit his alleged crimes by himself? U.S. authorities allege that Xu conducted the hacking as part of a HAFNIUM, an espionage campaign that targeted infectious disease experts, law firms, universities, and defense contractors. The campaign compromised nearly 13,000 U.S. organizations, Patel said. Additionally, Chinese national Zhang Yu was charged alongside Xu, according to the Justice Department. Zhang, 44, remained at large as of Monday. All suspects are presumed legally innocent until proven guilty in court.

Dig deeper: Read my report on a Chinese national and two U.S. citizens who were accused of smuggling artificial intelligence technology.