Annabelle Liang
Journalist
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American prosecutors accused 12 Chinese nationals for having participated in an alleged hacking program, which sold US dissident data to the Chinese government.
The operation “sponsored by the State” also targeted government agencies, including the Treasury, according to the Ministry of Justice (DOJ).
The pirates would also have targeted an American religious organization and a newspaper in Hong Kong, added the press release.
China has not responded to these specific allegations, but strongly denied other charges in the past.
In December, the Treasury Department pointed out a “major” violation by Chinese pirates, saying that they had been able to access employee workstations and certain unopassed documents.
At that time, China denied any involvement, calling the accusation of “baseless” and saying that it “regularly opposes all forms of hacking”.
It is not known when the last Doj’s accusations were issued – but they were not sealed in a federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday.
Who is billed?
Among the accused were two officers from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.
The DoJ said that the pirates, who seemed to represent a private company, I-Soon, billed Chinese agencies between $ 10,000 and $ 75,000 for each “exploited” reception box.
They would have “conducted computer intrusions” under the direction of the Chinese ministries and their own initiative, and were “paid for stolen data”.
“Today, we exhibit Chinese government officers who direct and promote blind and reckless attacks against computers and networks in the world,” said Sue J Bai, who heads the MJ national security division.
“We will continue to fight to dismantle this cyber-mercenary ecosystem and protect our national security,” she added.
Who was targeted?
No other details on American targeted dissidents have been provided.
The religious organization struck by pirates was described as that which “sent the missionaries in China previously and openly criticized the Government of the RPC”. The RPC is abbreviated for the People’s Republic of China.
A Hong Kong Journal was also on the list. Although he was not appointed, the press release said he was “considered opposed to the GDR Government”.
In addition to the American agencies, the pirates would have targeted the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan, India, South Korea and Indonesia.
Last October, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said that two major American presidential campaigns had been carried out by “actors affiliated to the People’s Republic of China”.
Earlier last year, seven Chinese nationals were responsible for managing a hacking operation that lasted at least 14 years and targeted foreign criticism from China.
The operations linked by Western governments to China have also targeted the United Kingdom’s electoral commission and British and New Zealand parliaments.
