Prolific Chinese State-Sponsored Contract Hacker Extradited from Italy
Xu Zewei, a Chinese national and alleged state-sponsored hacker, was extradited from Italy to the United States and appeared in court in Houston on charges related to cyberattacks between 2020 and 2021. He is accused of conducting computer intrusions on behalf of China's Ministry of State Security, including targeting U.S. COVID-19 research and participating in the HAFNIUM hacking campaign. Xu allegedly worked through a private company, Shanghai Powerock Network Co. Ltd., while taking direction from Chinese intelligence officers.
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Press Release Prolific Chinese State-Sponsored Contract Hacker Extradited from Italy Monday, April 27, 2026 Share Facebook X LinkedIn Email For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Note: View the indictment in U.S. v. Xu Zewei et al. here.Xu Zewei (徐泽伟), 34, of the People’s Republic of China was extradited to the United States this weekend and appeared today in U.S. District Court in Houston on a nine-count indictment related to his involvement in computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021. Certain of those computer intrusions allegedly are part of the HAFNIUM computer intrusion campaign that compromised thousands of computers worldwide, including in the United States. Other intrusions targeted U.S. COVID-19 research during the height of the pandemic.
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