US prosecutors have accused 12 Chinese citizens of being part of an alleged hacking scheme, selling data of US-based dissidents to the Chinese government.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the “state-proposed” operation also targeted government agencies, including Treasury.
The statement said hackers allegedly targeted an American religious organization and a newspaper in Hong Kong.
China has not responded to these specific allegations but has strongly denied other allegations in the past.
The Treasury Department reported a “major” violation in December, claiming that Chinese-contacted hackers had access to employee workstations and some classified documents. China denied any participation at that time, saying that it “continuously opposes hacking” and the charge is called “baseless.”. It is not clear when the latest DOJ charges were issued, but he was ignored in a federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday.
Who is being charged?
The charged persons were two officials of the Ministry of Public Safety of China.
Doj said hackers, who appeared to represent a private company, I-Soon, accused Chinese agencies between $ 10,000 and $ 75,000 for each “exploited” email inbox.
He allegedly directed the Chinese Ministries and “Computer Infiltration” at his initiative and “was beautifully paid for stolen data.”.
“Today, we are directing and promoting indiscriminate and careless attacks against computers and networks to the Chinese government agents,” said Suu J. Bai, head of the DOJ National Security Division.
She says, “We will continue to fight for destroying this cyber freight ecosystem and protecting our national security.”
Who was targeted?
No greater information had been supplied on the focused US-primarily based dissidents.
The religious employer hit by hackers became defined as one, which changed into first dispatched to missionaries in China and was brazenly crucial of the PRC authorities “. PRC is low for the PEP People’s Republic of China.
A Hong Kong newspaper turned into also at the listing. The assertion said that it turned into considered “in opposition to the PRC government,” without call. In addition to American corporations, hackers stated that foreign ministries from Taiwan, India, South Korea and Indonesia have been targeted.
Last October, the FBI and Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency stated that the 2 important US presidential campaigns have been targeted by way of the hack “People’s Republic of China affiliated with the Republic of China.”.
Earlier this year, seven Chinese residents had been accused of going for walks in a hacking operation for a minimum of 14 years and focused China’s overseas critics.
The operations associated with China through Western governments have also focused the UK’s Election Commission and the Parliament of the UK and New Zealand.
- China
- United States
- China-US relations
- Cyber-security