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US hacked Chinese phone companies: Snowden

China.org.cn, June 23, 2013

• Edward Snowden, the former CIA technician and NSA contractor, who blew the whistle on global surveillance operations, has opened a new front against the US authorities, claiming they hacked into Chinese mobile phone companies to access millions of private text messages.

  The South China Morning Post last night said on its website that it is ready to reveal more explosive details of the US cyber-spying operation against in Hong Kong, China's mainland and the region.

  It said documents seen by the Post and statements by Snowden show that Washington's cyber-spying program carried out hacking of major telecommunication companies in China, sustained attacks on network backbones at Tsinghua University and hacking computers at the Hong Kong headquarters at Pacnet, which owns one of the most extensive fibre optic submarine cable networks in the region.

  The paper quoted Snowden as saying that the US government is hacking Chinese mobile phone companies to steal millions of text messages. Snowden claims he has the evidence to prove it.

  In its disclosure last night, the Post said Tsinghua University, widely regarded as China's top education and research institute, was the target of extensive hacking by US spies this year. In a single day in January, at least 63 computers and servers in Tsinghua were hacked by the NSA.

  U.S. prosecutors have filed a sealed criminal complaint against Snowden on charges of espionage, theft and conversion of government property, the Washington Post cited U.S. officials as saying Saturday.

  Legal sources in Hong Kong say Snowden has approached prominent lawyers in preparation for a protracted extradition battle.

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