Two Chinese nationals have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to a widespread hacking effort that included attacks on computer networks of companies developing COVID-19 vaccines, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
The indictment alleges Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 33, were working with the Ministry of State Security and other agencies of the Chinese government to steal intellectual property over a period of more than 10 years, according to the press release from the Justice Department. Li and Dong each face 11 charges including conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets as well as seven counts of aggravated identity theft.
“China has now taken its place, alongside Russia, Iran and North Korea, in that shameful club of nations that provide a safe haven for cyber criminals in exchange for those criminals being ‘on call’ to work for the benefit of the state,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in the press release.
Demers called the Chinese Communist party’s desire for intellectual property “insatiable” and said that desire includes information on COVID-19 vaccines. News of this indictment comes days after the National Security Agency announced Russian hackers are attempting to steal COVID-19 research.
The indictment, which came down from the Eastern District court in Washington state, where the hack was first discovered, accuses Li and Dong of working with a MSS officer assigned to the Guangdong State Security Department to steal data through computer fraud from corporations and research institutions.
These corporations included defense contractors, according to the indictment. The document alleg ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
