Chinese internet hub allegedly targeted by NSA

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has alleged that Tsinghua University’s China Education and Research Network (CERNET) was the target of NSA surveillance programs, Reuters reported. CERNET, one of six major backbone networks in the country, routes traffic for tens of millions of users, connecting 160 cities and more than 2,000 universities in China. Snowden also indicated that the NSA has hacked Chinese telecom companies to access text messages and the Hong Kong headquarters of Pacnet, which has an extensive fiber optic submarine network. An unnamed official from Tsinghua has denied that it was the victim of US cyber attacks.