Milan, Italy - Italian authorities on Monday announced a Chinese hacker has been extradited to the US over allegations of spying for his country's government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
34-year-old Xu Zewei was arrested at Milan's Malpensa airport last July on suspicion of "acting for the Chinese government," Italian police said in a statement put out on Monday.
He is accused of hacking US government entities, research institutes, and universities involved in vaccine research in 2020 and 2021, at the height of the pandemic.
The police did not immediately identify the man, just saying he is the former head of a major technology company in Shanghai, but his identity was confirmed shortly afterward by the US Department of Justice.
He is alleged, along with associates, to be behind a hacking group called "Hafnium" which was accused of penetrating tens of thousands of Microsoft Exchange email servers in 2021.
At the time, Microsoft called the group a "highly skilled and sophisticated actor."
Italian police said the suspect was arrested on a warrant from Texas, hailing an "excellent and well-established cooperation" with the FBI as a reason for the operation's success.
"We have pursued this moment across years and continents," Acting US Attorney John G.E. Marck for the Southern District of Texas said in a statement put out by the DOJ.
"He is one of many contractors the Chinese government uses to obscure its hand in cyber operations, and others who do the same face the same risk," said Brett Leatherman, the FBI Cyber Division's assistant director.
"The FBI thanks our Italian law enforcement colleagues, especially the Polizia Postale, whose partnership led to Xu's arrest in Milan and his extradition to the United States."