The US Department of Justice has charged Chinese state security officials along with hackers APT27 and i-Soon with breaches of critical infrastructure and cyberattacks that have targeted victims worldwide since 2011.
See also: Orange Group confirmed it suffered a data breach
Their list of victims includes U.S. federal and state government agencies , foreign ministries of several governments in Asia, U.S.-based dissidents, as well as a prominent religious organization in the United States.
Recently, the Department of Justice charged two MPS and eight employees of Anxun Information Technology (also known as i-Soon) with involvement in these attacks and seized the domain that i-Soon used to advertise services .
The State Department is also offering a reward of up to $10 million through the Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program for information that could help identify the following defendants:
- Wu Haibo (吴海波), Chief Executive Officer
- Chen Cheng (陈诚), Chief Operating Officer
- Wang Zhe (王哲), Sales Director
- Liang Guodong (梁国栋), Technical Staff
- Ma Li (马丽), Technical Staff
- Wang Yan (王堰), Technical Staff
- Xu Liang (徐梁), Technical Staff
- Zhou Weiwei (周伟伟), Technical Staff
- Wang Liyu (王立宇), MPS Officer
- Sheng Jing (盛晶), MPS Officer
See also: Chinese hackers breach telecommunications through Cisco routers
The indictments unsealed today reveal that Chinese hackers from i-Soon conducted computer intrusions at the request of MSS. They also independently hacked targets and attempted to sell stolen data to at least 43 MSS or MPS offices in 31 Chinese provinces and municipalities.
i-Soon charged MSS and MPS between $10,000 and $75,000 for each compromised inbound email and also trained MPS employees.
China-based hackers Yin Kecheng (aka YKCAI) and Zhou Shuai (aka Coldface), who are affiliated with the state-backed hacking group APT27, were also accused of participating in this global hacking campaign.
While both remain at large, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions, while the State Department has announced rewards of up to $2 million for information leading to their arrest and conviction.
See also: Grubhub: Data breach affects customers and drivers
Critical infrastructure breach refers to any action aimed at undermining or destroying the basic structures or services that are vital to the functioning of a country or society. This infrastructure includes the energy system, telecommunications networks, transportation, financial services, healthcare systems, water networks, and other essential systems that support daily life and the security of society.
Source: bleepingcomputer
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