HAFNIUM: the Chinese group accused of looting COVID research at U.S. universities

Between February 2020 and June 2021, while the world looked for a vaccine, a group attributed to China's Ministry of State Security — HAFNIUM — aimed at labs and the mail of immunologists in the United States.

Xu Zewei faces nine counts in the Southern District of Texas. He was arrested in Italy. Zhang Yu is still out. Authorities do not name every university, but they confirm at least two in Texas and a law firm with an office in Washington.

The technical count is outsized: more than 60,000 entities in view, more than 12,700 compromised. This is not one stolen paper. It is a harvest.

The timeline runs through Exchange Server: the malware, and, according to the file, what was taken from each vertical.