Hacker who allegedly carried out cyberattacks for China is extradited to US

A man accused of carrying out cyberattacks on behalf of the Chinese government has been extradited to the United States, and faces over a decade in prison if convicted.

Last year, the U.S. Justice Department accused Xu Zewei of working as a contractor for the Chinese Ministry of State Security to conduct a series of cyberattacks. Prosecutors alleged Xu and co-conspirator Zhang Yu targeted several U.S. universities in early 2020 to steal research related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The two also allegedly hacked thousands of email servers running Microsoft Exchange beginning March 2021, as part of an “indiscriminate” campaign attributed to a Chinese-backed hacking group known as Hafnium, and later Silk Typhoon.

Xu was arrested in Italy last year at the request of U.S. authorities. His lawyer in Italy, Simona Candido, told TechCrunch that Xu was extradited to the United States on Saturday, and that he is now in detention in Houston, Texas.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Prison’s website, a man with the same name is in custody at the Federal Detention Center in Houston.

After this story was published, the Justice Department announced Xu’s extradition in a press release.

Xu’s lawyer in the United States, Dan Cogdell, was scheduled to appear at a hearing in Houston on Monday, according to court records. Cogdell told TechCrunch that he found out about the hearing earlier on Monday.

According to court records, Xu appeared for his initial appearance in federal court and was remanded back into custody.

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