Xu Zewei, a 34-year-old Chinese hacker, has been extradited from Italy to the USA for stealing research on vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Xu Zewei, a 34-year-old Chinese hacker, was extradited from Italy to the United States, where he is accused of stealing research on vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Italian authorities arrested him in Milan last July, suspecting him of cyberattacks on universities and institutions involved in COVID-19 related research. Xu and his accomplices allegedly exploited security vulnerabilities in email software as part of a state-sponsored cyber espionage campaign known as 'Hafnium'. In front of the court in Houston, Texas, Xu was charged with new offenses, including electronic fraud and conspiracy to obtain information through unauthorized access to protected computers. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the most serious charges. The Chinese embassy in Washington previously denied the hacking allegations.