U.S. charges Chinese hackers, government officials in broad cybercrime campaign
The US Department of Justice has charged 12 Chinese nationals, including hackers and government officials, with global cybercrime campaigns targeting dissidents, news organizations, and US agencies. The indictments reveal a hacking-for-hire ecosystem in China, where private companies are paid by the government to target victims of interest to Beijing.
The US Department of Justice has charged 12 Chinese nationals with global cybercrime campaigns. The defendants include mercenary hackers, law enforcement officers, and employees of a private hacking company called I-Soon. I-Soon's activities targeted Chinese dissidents, religious organizations, and media outlets based in the US, as well as the Defense Intelligence Agency and a research university. The company charged the Chinese government between $10,000 and $75,000 for each email inbox it successfully hacked. Two other Chinese hackers, Yin Kecheng and Zhou Shuai, were charged in a separate indictment with a for-profit hacking campaign targeting US technology companies and government agencies. The US Treasury Department disclosed a breach by Chinese actors late last year, which was among the targets of the indicted hackers. The State Department has announced a reward of up to $2 million for information leading to the arrest of Yin Kecheng and Zhou Shuai.
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