DOJ charges Chinese hackers, government officials in campaign targeting US agencies

The U.S. government has charged 10 Chinese hackers-for-hire and two of the country's security officials in a scheme to steal data from American entities and dissidents of the Chinese government, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday.

“Today, we are exposing the Chinese government agents directing and fostering indiscriminate and reckless attacks against computers and networks worldwide, as well as the enabling companies and individual hackers that they have unleashed,” DOJ national security head Sue J. Bai said in a statement. “We will continue to fight to dismantle this ecosystem of cyber mercenaries and protect our national security.”

According to the DOJ, hackers worked independently and for state-affiliated contractor I-Soon to collect bounties from the People's Republic of China (PRC). The China's Ministry of Public Safety (MPS) and Ministry of State Security (MSS) targeted specific victims for exploitation, according to court documents.

"The MPS and MSS paid handsomely for stolen data," the DOJ said in announcing the charges. "Victims include U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the PRC, a large religious organization in the United States, the foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, and U.S. federal and state government agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury in late 2024."

The U.S. Treasury Department revealed the breach last year.

"Operating from their safe haven and motivated by profit, this network of private companies and contractors in China cast a wide net to identify vulnerable computers, exploit those computers, and then identify information that it could sell directly or indirectly to the PRC government," the DOJ said.

FBI cyber division assistant director Bryan Vorndran thanked the “victims who bravely came forward with evidence of intrusions.”

“And to those who choose to aid the CCP in its unlawful cyber activities, these charges should demonstrate that we will use all available tools to identify you, indict you, and expose your malicious activity for all the world to see,” Vorndran said in a statement.

The Associated Press reported last year about the hacker-for-hire relationships that have fueled the Chinese government’s quest for overseas intelligence.

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