The U.S. Department of Justice charges 2 Chinese citizens with a massive breach of data

U.S. Department of Justice charges

Hundreds of gigabytes’ of hacked data from 12 countries, including Canada

The Department of Justice has charged two Chinese citizens with an extensive hacking campaign to steal business data and trade secrets from entities in 12 countries, including Canada.

On Thursday, an indictment was unsealed against Zhu Hua and Zhang Shillong, who said prosecutors act on behalf of the main intelligence agency in China. Both were members of the Advanced Persistent Threat 10 group and worked for a company called Huaying Haitai, according to the charges.

Court papers filed in Manhattan federal court in New York City, alleging that hackers could break more than 45 companies and agencies in dozens of country.

The victims were in a variety of industries including aviation, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and natural resources, including NASA and more than 100,000 U.S. personal information. Personnel of the navy.

The United States On Thursday, the British authorities condemned China for violating the 2015 agreement to curb business cyber espionage, slamming Chinese efforts to steal trade secrets and technologies from other countries and to compromise government computers.

At least 1100 EU diplomatic cables were stolen by Chinese hackers, USA. “China’s goal, just put it, is to replace the US as the world’s leading superpower, “said FBI chief Christopher Wray.”

We’re talking about government – sponsored actors engaged in illegal behavior. “No country poses a broader, more severe long – term threat” to the US than China, Wray said.

Hundreds of gigabytes’ violated

Both men were charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, wire fraud conspiracy and worsened theft of identity. The prosecutors said that the hackers could steal data on “hundreds of gigabytes.”

Court papers say that they hacked computer service providers to gain access to business and government networks to steal business and intellectual property data.

The United States Officials said that hacking attempts started in 2006 and ended in 2018. Wray, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Geoffrey Berman of the United States, announced the indictment on Thursday, Manhattan attorney.

“We want China to stop its illegal cyber activity and honor its commitment to the international community, but the evidence suggests that China may not be willing to live up to its promises, ” said Rosenstein.” There is no free pass to violate US law simply because it is protected by a foreign state. “The RCMP had no immediate comment on the United States. Canadian companies ‘ charges or allegations.

Worsening tensions after arresting Meng?

The timing of the court action may worsen tensions between Western governments and Beijing following the arrest in Canada at the request of the United States of Meng Wanzhou, Chief Financial Officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies.

Not long after Meng’s arrest, Chinese officials confirmed the arrest of two Canadian men — Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — in China on national security issues. According to Chinese officials, Michael Spavor and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig were taken into custody in China this month.

Sarah McIver, a third Canadian, was also recently taken into custody in China (Associated Press / International Crisis Group / Canadian Press), but her arrest does not appear to be related to the arrest of two others, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday. The United Kingdom and New Zealand both condemned the alleged global hacking campaign backed by China following the announcement of charges.

“This campaign shows that elements of the Chinese government do not respect China’s commitments made directly to the United Kingdom in a bilateral agreement in 2015, ” said the British government in a statement. Severe cyberbullying Last week, US officials the Justice Department, the FBI and the Homeland Security Department testified to the Judicial Committee of the Senate that China is working to steal trade secrets and intellectual property from the United States.

Enterprises to harm America’s economy and its own development. Chinese spying efforts have become “the most serious counter – intelligence threat facing our country today, “said Bill Priestap, FBI counter – intelligence assistant director. In recent months, the Department of Justice has brought charges against a number of Chinese intelligence officials and hackers. In October, a case filed marked the first time a Chinese State Security Officer was extradited to the United States for trial.

Starting in 2014, Zhu and Zhang were charged with spying on some of the largest companies in the world by hacking into technology companies to which they outsource email, storage and other computer tasks. In recent years, companies around the world have tried to reduce the spending on information technology and have increasingly relied on external contractors to store and transmit data.

When a managed service provider is hacked, it can provide attackers with access to secondary victims who are customers of that company and, according to experts, have their computer systems connected.

Mark Funk
Mark Funk is an experienced information security specialist who works with enterprises to mature and improve their enterprise security programs. Previously, he worked as a security news reporter.